REUTERS

Amber Miller holds her baby, June, and sits next to her husband, Joe, in Central DuPage Hospital in Chicago yesterday. The 27-year-old from suburban Chicago was 39 weeks pregnant and completed the 42.195km Chicago Marathon on Sunday. She went into labour soon after finishing the race.

CHICAGO: Amber Miller could be forgiven for taking a long rest after completing the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, but rather than resting her aching limbs, the 27-year-old spent the evening giving birth to her second child.

Miller was 39 weeks pregnant when she started the 42.195km race and went into labour soon after finishing, a spokeswoman at Central DuPage Hospital said yesterday.

And she beat her husband, Joe.

Miller was the 34 339th finisher, while Joe came in at 34 997.

The Chicago native had completed marathons during her previous pregnancy, but told reporters at the hospital that she had not expected to finish this year’s race.

“I was kind of planning on running about half and maybe skipping to the end and walking across the finish line,” Miller said.

“Lots of people were cheering me on: ‘Go pregnant lady’,” she said.

Crazy

“For me, it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. I was running up until that point anyway,” she said.

“I am crazy about running.”

Miller ended up alternating between running and walking throughout the race.

After the race, the couple settled down to eat a sandwich before Miller started to feel contractions in the middle of the afternoon.

The couple headed straight to the hospital where Miller gave birth to her child, June.

The baby and her mother were both healthy.

Doctors were kept informed of Miller’s exercise plans during her pregnancy and had no objections to her running the marathon. – Sapa-AP & Reuters