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Stephanie Bruce won the women’s Big Sur 12K—at 18 weeks pregnant—and then held the finish tape for her husband who won the marathon

While elite runner Stephanie Bruce waited for her husband, Ben, to run the Big Sur Marathon last weekend, she “snuck in [her] own little race,” and won. Oh, and she’s 18 weeks pregnant with her third child.

Bruce, who had announced her retirement from professional running in early 2022 and then reversed her decision, was the top female finisher in the Big Sur 12K in 45:41, coming in second overall, just 62 seconds behind first place.

“Averaged 6:09 pace. Proud of that at 18 weeks,” Bruce tweeted.

Bruce told Runner’s World earlier this year that 2022 was a “really amazing year” for her. She finished as the 12th woman in the Boston Marathon, running her second-fastest time (2:28:02), won the USATF 10K Road Championships, broke the Great Cow Harbor 10K course record (31:52), set a road PR at the NYC Mini 10K (31:49), and finished 13th at the New York City Marathon (2:30:34).

“When I look back, I think I had so much that happened to me in 2021; my mom died and then I found out I had a congenital heart condition,” she told Runner’s World last month. “I don’t know if I’d call it a midlife crisis, but I think I just hit a crossroads, and I was really deeply evaluating my life, and I’m like, should I still be running?”

Two weeks ago, Bruce ran 17:04 at the Boston Athletic Association 5K at 16 weeks pregnant, and last week, she posted a gender reveal video on Twitter (it’s a girl!). Plus, after her Big Sur 12K, she held the tape as her husband won the marathon in 2:36:59.