Sophie Carter is a distinguished British ultramarathon runner, personal trainer, and mother of five, celebrated for her exceptional endurance performances and her advocacy for balancing elite sport with motherhood.

 

Athletic Achievements

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Carter has represented England in ultra-distance events and was ranked second in the UK for 100km road running, securing second place in the British Championships in both 2017 and 2018. She has won multiple marathons and ultra-distance races, including the ‘Race to the Stones’ 100km ultramarathon, where she finished as the first female and ninth overall in 2023, completing the race in 9 hours and 50 minutes. Remarkably, she accomplished this while expressing breast milk during the race to feed her baby, Teddy. In 2024, she set a new course record at the same event, finishing in 9 hours and 25 minutes .

 

Her UTMB® Index, a measure of trail running performance, stands at 613, with notable victories in events like the ‘Race to the King’ and ‘Grand Tour of Skiddaw’ .

 

Personal and Professional Life

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Beyond her athletic pursuits, Carter is a certified personal trainer and run coach with over 15 years of experience. She also specialises in strength and conditioning, including pre- and post-natal fitness, and operates under the brand ‘Project Run SC’. She shares her journey of balancing elite-level training with raising five children, including three under the age of five, offering insights into managing motherhood alongside a demanding athletic career .

 

Carter’s story is one of resilience and inspiration, demonstrating that elite athletic performance can coexist with the challenges of motherhood.

 

Sophie Carter is a co-author of a medical case study titled “Training Patterns of Athletes during Pregnancy and Postpartum.” This study explores the training, performance, health, and delivery outcomes of an ultramarathon runner, Sophie Carter herself - across two successive pregnancies: one with twins and one singleton. The research provides detailed insights into her weekly mileage, training intensity, and health outcomes during these periods. Notably, during her twin pregnancy, she averaged approximately 91.7 km per week, and during her singleton pregnancy, this increased to about 157.8 km per week. Both pregnancies resulted in healthy deliveries, with the twins born at 37 weeks and the singleton at full term. The study concludes that, in this case, high-volume endurance training during pregnancy was not associated with adverse outcomes .

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This case study contributes valuable data to the limited research on high-intensity endurance exercise during pregnancy, particularly among elite athletes. It underscores the importance of individualized assessment and monitoring for pregnant athletes considering continued training

 

Over the past two years, I’ve not only claimed multiple 100K ultramarathon victories, but I’ve also achieved something no one else has:

 

• Ran Race to the Stones (100K) while 21 weeks pregnant, placing 2nd woman in 10:03 and 8th overall - a feat unmatched in the world of pregnant endurance athletes.

• Ran a 3:38 marathon at 31 weeks pregnant - currently the fastest known marathon time for a pregnant woman.

• Returned to Race to the Stones in 2023 postpartum, won the race while breastfeeding, with four of my children at the finish line.

• My UTMB® Index is 613, and I recently won both Race to the Stones and Race to the King (100K) in 2024.

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My journey has been featured in:

 

• The Journal of Applied Physiology (2024) – Co-authored scientific case study on pregnancy and elite endurance

• Ultra Runner Magazine, Runner’s World UK, and Kidspot – profiling my race wins, coaching work, and advocacy for athletic motherhood

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