21km with a pram
Written by Kate Kirby, Mum to Koda and Lara, 2
Prior to having kids, my husband Glenn and I were very active, spending most of our spare time at the beach and training for various races outdoors.
Having twins was a shock and, for a long time, even leaving the house felt like a marathon in itself. When our beautiful kids Koda and Lara turned two this year, we decided to register for a race together, and attempt to run a half marathon as a family with the double pram. We decided on the Sunshine Coast Half Marathon. This is a 21.1km race held in August on the beautiful Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Apart from being a great local race, the organisers actively encouraged pram racing. The race was such an achievement for our family. It gave us all a common goal and got us outside in the sunshine as a family. While racing with a pram was harder than we anticipated, we hope to do more pram running, although we will stick to 10km races in the future (at least until the twins get a bit older).
Here are my tips if you are thinking about racing half marathons with a pram:
Ignore your time.
We initially aimed for my personal best (PB) half marathon time plus six minutes extra for possible stops, however ended up finishing much slower. There were a lot of stops, especially in the second half of the race.
You do not need a running pram.
We have a Mountain Buggy ‘Duo’ Everyday double pram. It is excellent to run with and did the job well on the day. I love this pram, we have had it since the twins were born and it has never let us down.
Remember it is a pram and not a ram.
Don’t forget that P. We started at the very back of the field as we did not want our huge pram and motley crew to get in the way of other competitors.
Entertainment.
It was a morning of solid bribery. Prior to the race I did a big shop at the $2 store and put together show bags to pass to the kids throughout the race.
Snacking.
Like the show bags of toys, we took little snack bags for Koda and Lara. Bags of tiny teddies, lollies, and squeeze yoghurts worked best.
You might have to separate on course.
Glenn is a much faster runner than I am so we used this to our benefit throughout the race. When we knew the kids needed a stop, he would run ahead with the pram and stop, while I (more slowly) ran up to where they had set up pram pit-stop.
Enjoy the finish.
About 100 metres before the finish line, we took Koda and Lara out of the pram and let them both run across the finish line. They loved this and it was a moment that both Glenn and I will remember forever. Lara loved the medal she got for finishing and Koda loved the all-you-can-eat watermelon at the race finish.
