British Olympic athlete Calli Hauger-Thackery completed the Boston Marathon whilst 22 weeks pregnant, crossing the finish line in 2 hours and 43 minutes.
The 33-year-old Sheffield runner, who finished sixth in the same race last year with a time of 2:22:38, described the experience as "incredible" and "more meaningful" than her previous athletic accomplishments.
"I'm grateful that I got through that. 26.2 miles is no easy feat, and to do it this far into pregnancy, I'm super grateful," she told BBC Sport.
The race was far from straightforward for Hauger-Thackery, who encountered significant physical difficulties in the opening miles.
A trapped nerve in her glute forced her into the medical tent at mile five, leaving her struggling to lift her right leg properly.
She said: "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."
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However, the second half of the race proved transformative, with Hauger-Thackery describing it as "flawless" and feeling "a million dollars" as she found her rhythm.
The athlete only discovered she was pregnant for the first time after winning the Honolulu Marathon in December, having attributed vomiting during the race to the heat.
"I joked to Nick, my husband, and said: 'Imagine if it is morning sickness,'" she recalled, explaining they learnt the truth on Christmas Eve.
She went on to win the Houston Marathon in January whilst eight weeks pregnant, calling it "probably the hardest marathon" due to still competing seriously in her first trimester.
The decision to start a family came after failing to finish the Chicago Marathon in October, with Hauger-Thackery and her husband Nick, who also serves as her coach, agreeing it was "a perfect year" to pursue parenthood.
Hauger-Thackery's career boasts remarkable achievements, including the joint-second-fastest British women's marathon time alongside Charlotte Purdue, behind only Paula Radcliffe, as well as a bronze medal in the women's half-marathon at the 2024 European Athletics Championships.
With no outdoor World or European Championships scheduled this year and having already competed at a Commonwealth Games, the timing felt right to expand her family.
"If we do it this year, I'll have a two-year-old for the Olympics," she said.
The athlete maintains running marathons during pregnancy carries greater significance than her previous accomplishments.
She said: "It's a different kind of hard, for sure, than what I've ever done, a lot harder than the European medals or these other things that I've achieved.
"But in a different way, in a more meaningful way, and I think it's just given me more purpose than ever before."
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