This past May, images of ultra runner Stephanie Case breastfeeding her newborn daughter while eating a slice of watermelon at an aid station during the Ultra Trail Snowdonia 100k have become the stuff of trail-running legend. Her resilient approach to the race – and subsequent win – marked one of the biggest comebacks we’ve seen in the sport, and may help redefine what’s possible for new mothers.
The 39-year-old Canadian – a human rights lawyer during the week, and founder of the charity Free to Run – has been competing at the ultra distance level for over 15 years, and her illustrious career has seen her take the podium at some of the world’s toughest races. However, after a second-place finish at the Hardrock 100 in 2022, she all but disappeared from the trail circuit.
In the years between then and her now-famous Snowdonia finish in Wales, the Canadian endured a tough three-year fertility journey, which brought multiple miscarriages and IVF failures. At the end of 2024, all that ended when Case and her partner, ultra runner John Roberts, welcomed their daughter Pepper.
A return to the trail
As long as Pepper was fed, that’s all that mattered.
Stephanie Case
For some runners, the new arrival might have spelled an even longer break from competitive running, but a few months after giving birth, Case signed up for a return to Colorado’s Hardrock 100 in July and decided to do the Snowdonia race as a training run. At the time, she didn’t know if she’d still be breastfeeding when race day came around.
“That isn’t something you can necessarily predict – so it just wasn’t a factor I considered. I figured I would just manage. As long as Pepper was fed, that’s all that mattered,” she tells me.
Case worked with coach Megan Roche (the five-time US national champion who’s married to ultra runner David Roche) to train for the race post partum, and when the big day grew closer, she realized she wasn't going to have finished breastfeeding in time. Undeterred, she obtained special permission from UTMB Snowdonia race organizers to ensure that her crew was allowed access to the checkpoints where she would need to feed Pepper.
On May 17, Case showed up ready to take on a course that would present her with 20,700ft (6,300m) of climbing in Wales’ most famous National Park, with Pepper in her arms, and there was just one slight hitch with her plan.
“A volunteer told me that I couldn’t come into the registration area as it was only for runners,” recalls Case, who describes the misunderstanding as humorous and praises organizers for giving her such good care. As soon as she cleared up the confusion, Case was fast-tracked through the check-in process.
“A volunteer also came up to me right away to ask if I needed any help with my bottles or if I wanted any food to eat.”
A late start and an early finish
I ran with joy.
When the 4:30am start time rolled around, the elite runners took off from the National Slate Museum, but, having lost her elite status over the previous years, Case didn’t start for another 30 minutes.
“Knowing that I was starting in the last and third starting wave, I didn’t think I could have any performance goals.”
Ordinarily, a runner trying to reach the podium would attempt to make their aid station stops as short as possible, but Case had no choice but to stop and periodically breastfeed Pepper, and she thinks it may just have been the psychological reframing of the race that gave her a competitive edge that day.
“Knowing that I needed to fuel properly not just for me, but also for Pepper, probably made me a lot more focused than I would normally have been,” says Case, who took a running gel with 40g of carbs every half hour in addition to her watermelon slices and carb drinks to keep moving. But she also says she ran with a different attitude than in previous races.
“I ran with joy. I was just so happy to be back out there without any pressure, and I think I ran well because I was relaxed.”
“I purposely didn’t want to know where I was in the race so that I wouldn’t rush Pepper’s feeding time at the checkpoints.”
In the end, no one was more surprised than Case when she crossed the finish line in first place less than 17 hours later, four minutes ahead of the UK’s Lauren Graham and 13 minutes faster than third-placed Kimino Miyazaki of Japan.
“I did not expect to win at all,” says Case of receiving the startling news at the finish line.
A lesson for breastfeeding runners
It doesn’t have to hold you back.
Stephanie Case
Back in 2019, British ultrarunner Jasmin Paris won the 268-mile Montane Spine Race (finishing first overall - beating all the men), even after stopping at aid stations to express milk for her breastfeeding baby. This and Case's incredible victory have been a lesson for the trail running community as a whole, helping to bring more awareness to women's needs in long-distance events.
“Racing while breastfeeding is undoubtedly more complicated, but it doesn’t have to hold you back,” says Case, who went on to take fifth place in a hard-fought battle at this year's Hardrock.
“With the right kind of support and guidance on nutrition to keep up your milk supply in training, and with a bit of flexibility, patience and a good sense of humour, there is no reason why you can’t compete while breastfeeding.”
