Pregnant mom Meliessa Kegler runs her own marathon

After COVID-19 forced the cancellation of the Milwaukee Marathon, Meliessa Kegler created her own course and ran 26.2 miles, while 19 weeks pregnant.

A countless number of events have been cancelled due to COVID-19, including the Milwaukee Marathon this past weekend.

That didn’t stop 38-year-old Meliessa Kegler of Janesville, Wisconsin. She was determined to run the 26.2 miles even at 19 weeks pregnant.

“I mean, it’s weird. I mean any woman will tell you, pregnancy makes everything weird,” Kegler said with a laugh. “When I originally signed up for the marathon, I guess I was pregnant but I didn’t know, which probably wouldn’t have stopped me.”

She’s been training for months and when the race was canceled, she decided design her own course around Janesville. Kegler mapped out a 6.5 mile loop that she ran four times.

“A marathon is all mental. There is training that goes into it but that last 26.2 miles is just a celebration of what you’ve been through to get to that point,” she says.

posted Tuesday April 14th
by Tim Elliott