Sidumisile Mabena
For an elite athlete, who has represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games, running the Boston Marathon in two hours and 43 minutes might not seem like much of an achievement.
That is, after all, over 20 minutes slower than her personal best.
But Calli Hauger-Thackery managed it while 22 weeks pregnant on Monday — and points to the race as an “incredible” and “more meaningful” moment in her career.
The 33-year-old, from Sheffield, ran the same race last year and finished sixth with a time of 2:22:38, and knew she was going to face a tougher task this year.
“I’m grateful that I got through that today — 26,2 miles is no easy feat and to do it this far into pregnancy, I’m super grateful,” she told BBC Sport.
Like any marathon runner, she encountered some hiccups along the course. She had to be treated for a trapped nerve in her gluteal muscle at mile five, and again at mile 11.
“I had to dash into the medical tent because I had this crazy trapped nerve.
“I genuinely couldn’t even pick up my right leg properly. I was dragging it and I was like, ‘oh no, this is not good and this is mile five’. I was like: ‘Guys, is there anything you can do?’
“Luckily they were brilliant and they were able to release it.
“I had two wee stops, as you do when you’re pregnant — you need them more than ever — but this was all before mile 13.
“The second half felt flawless, like I was in tune with my body. I felt a million dollars. I was like, ‘OK, we’re actually doing this’. Because there were many times before mile 13, which is the halfway point, I did not think I was going to be finished in that race.”
This sort of physical challenge is something Hauger-Thackery is used to, having only discovered she was pregnant after running — and winning — the Honolulu Marathon in December. She was vomiting on the course and put it down to it being a hot day.
“I joked to Nick, my husband, and said ‘imagine if it is morning sickness’.
“We just laughed it off, genuinely didn’t think anything of it. It was Christmas Eve when we found out and we were like ‘oh, that makes sense now’. I won the race and I actually felt amazing, so I was just shocked.”
Her next race was the Houston Marathon in January, when she was in her first trimester and won with a time of 2:24:17.
“That was probably the hardest marathon for me just because I was eight weeks pregnant, but I was still taking it very seriously. I just thought, you know what, I’m going to at least go for it and try and see.”
It was after not finishing the Chicago Marathon in October that Hauger-Thackery and husband Nick, who also trains her, decided the time was right to start a family.
“It kind of just made sense this year,” Hauger-Thackery said. —BBC
Online Reporter