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When the starting gun fired in the early morning light at the Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100-kilometer race on May 17, Stephanie Case had just one thing on her mind—and it wasn’t the podium. It wasn’t the technical terrain, the rocky scrambling, or the 21,000 feet of elevation gain through Snowdonia National Park in northwest Wales, either. It was Pepper, her six-month-old daughter, and whether she’d be ready to breastfeed at the next aid station.
It had been three years since Case last pinned on a race bib. (That day she finished in second place behind Courtney Dauwalter at the 2022 Hardrock 100.) The time in between had been anything but linear: a heartbreaking journey of infertility, miscarriages, IVF treatments, and a future clouded by uncertainty. So, at 43 and six months postpartum, Case wasn’t racing to win—she was showing up to remember who she was.
“My only goal was really to shake out the cobwebs, try to enjoy myself, and find that love of running again,” Case told Outside Run.
But it turned out she had more in the tank than expected. Enough, in fact, to win the women’s race—breastfeeding breaks and all.
She also started in the third wave, a full 30 minutes behind the leaders. But Case, a human rights lawyer and an accomplished ultrarunner from Canada living in Chamonix, France, ran with quiet confidence, gradually making up ground on the technical, unforgiving, craggy landscape of Northern Wales.
She paced herself with surgical precision and methodically worked her way through the field, picking off runners one-by-one until she surged to the front of the standings—all while purposefully unaware she was even leading the race.
Photos of Case nursing Pepper at the aid stations—cradling the baby in one hand, eating a slice of watermelon with the other—soon went viral. Fans on social media hailed her as a hero. And while Case is grateful for the praise, she also wants everyone to know one thing:
“I’m not extraordinary,” she said. “I had a baby, I ran a race. It should be a totally normal thing.”
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Don’t Call It a Comeback
Case is also quick to point out that hers is not a comeback story—because, as she puts it, she wasn’t “coming back” to anything that was familiar to her.
“In the time that’s passed since I last raced, my body, my mindset, my lifestyle—everything has completely changed,” Case explained. “So to think I was trying to get back to a place I’d been before felt like way too much pressure. It set this impossible standard I didn’t think I could meet.”
Instead, Case hoped the race would serve as a way to reclaim her identity as a runner, something that she says became shrouded in guilt and fear during her infertility struggles.
“After my first miscarriage, people would ask, ‘Is it because of your running?’” she said. “There’s no research that supports that, but it plants this awful seed of doubt.”
As a result, her relationship with running completely shifted. “l didn’t feel good about heading out for a run anymore,” she said. “I’ve really had to work hard to let that joy back in, to break that guilt, and remind myself that running is a really positive, healthy thing to do. “
Once Pepper arrived healthy and safe in November, Case became intentional about learning to love running again. After all, she’d spent over a decade as a dedicated ultrarunner, earning recognition on the international stage, highlighted by wins at hefty races like the Tor des Glaciers 450K, all while juggling a demanding career as a human rights lawyer and spearheading her nonprofit Free to Run, which empowers girls and women through running in areas of conflict.
At six weeks postpartum, Case laced up her shoes and went for a run. It wasn’t easy. “I felt like my uterus was going to fall out,” she laughed—but it felt right.
Soon, her sights were set on the Hardrock 100, for which she had a pregnancy deferral entry. But first, she wanted to complete another ultra to get some much-needed race practice. After her time away from racing, her options were limited.
The UTMB World Series offers races around the globe, but most of its 100K and 100-mile distances require a UTMB Index—a performance ranking based on recent finishes at UTMB World Series races and some other events. (It’s also used to determine elite entries and starting waves.) Three years of no racing meant that Case’s index had dropped to zero. When she discovered that Ultra-Trail Snowdonia didn’t require a minimum index, she went for it—with a simple plan.
“I just wanted to celebrate the fact that I can do this,” she said. “And through all the changes I experienced and what I am still going through as a new mom, to reconnect with the core of who I was again: a runner.”
Oh, Baby
But there was one major logistical hurdle: breastfeeding.
Case exclusively breastfeeds Pepper, and because the baby had been refusing a bottle until recently, most of her long training runs were broken into two segments, with a nursing break in between. The Ultra-Trail Snowdonia 100K would be no different. She could take the baby at the 20K, 50K, and 80K marks from her partner, John, passing off Pepper in a swift-but-gentle exchange.
“At the checkpoints, it was about Pepper,” she said, describing her baby as “psychotically happy” and a source of unbridled joy—even in the throes of an ultra race. “I wasn’t really looking for food for me, or concerned about gear swaps—just making sure she was OK.”
True to her six-month-old nature, Pepper became distracted during the feeds, playing with her mom’s race bib and ogling at the many people surrounding them. “But the hardest part is that once she was done and wanted to cuddle, I had to get back out there,” Case said. “I didn’t want to rush her, so it was hard to leave.”
Even with the mid-race breastfeeding sessions, Case’s total aid station time was still less than that of the second- and third-place finishers. She shrugs when asked how.
“I guess I was less focused on myself, and I wasn’t taking in much food,” she said. “I was just focused on Pepper.”
A Surprise Win
As the miles and hours ticked by, Case began to find her rhythm, and for the most part, began running like her old self—but far more relaxed. Her crew, obsessively checking the tracking app, quickly realized she was running faster than any other woman on the course.
But Case didn’t want to know.
“Had I known I was in first, I’d have gotten competitive. I’d rush the aid stations. I didn’t want that,” she said. “I wanted to be there for Pepper as long as she needed.”
When Case eventually crossed the finish line in 16 hours, 53 minutes, and 22 seconds, she had a sense that she’d done well—maybe even top five. But winning? Not a chance. Her pace had slowed down due to some late stage nausea and dry heaving. And because she started so far back, her finish was met with limited fanfare.
“Then, someone checked the chip time,” she said. “And the race officials came to me and they were like, ‘You actually won. Can you run through the tape again for the cameras?’”
She did—still in disbelief. “I took the photos and did the finish line victory, but it just wouldn’t sink in,” Case said. “I just kept saying, ‘I won? I won?’”
Grateful and Motivated
While proud—and still a bit shocked—by her win, Case is also sensitive about the message her story sends to other women who may be going through their own personal battles, whether it’s infertility or otherwise.
“I worry that stories like mine, while inspiring to some, can be frustrating or even discouraging to others,” she said. “They can paint a rosy picture and set unrealistic expectations—like new moms should be able to bounce back and win 100Ks.”
Case is clear: Her story isn’t about setting a standard. It’s about expanding what’s possible, and encouraging more dialogue about motherhood.
“If we were more supportive of moms in running in all kinds of ways—whether that means resting, returning to sport, or anything in between—we’d see more compassion and less judgment,” she said. “There’s so much scrutiny over how moms spend their time, and not enough space for big adventures.”
For Case, her next big quest is Hardock in July, but in the meantime, she’ll enjoy the adventure of being a new mom, too.
“Every time Pepper wakes me up in the middle of the night for a feed, my first thought is, ‘Damn, I really have a baby,’” she said. “It was just so hard to bring her here, and every day when I wake up and see her smile and sparkly eyes, I’m just so grateful for it all.”