{"id":12485,"date":"2026-04-12T19:49:39","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:49:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/12485\/"},"modified":"2026-04-12T19:49:39","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T19:49:39","slug":"scots-mum-set-to-run-london-marathon-while-30-weeks-pregnant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/12485\/","title":{"rendered":"Scots mum set to run London marathon while 30 weeks pregnant"},"content":{"rendered":"

Samantha Donaldson, 33, signed up for the running event after being inspired by watching the 2025 event.Olivia Stringer and Ruth Suter<\/a> Chief Live News Reporter<\/p>\n

10:23, 12 Apr 2026Updated 10:24, 12 Apr 2026<\/p>\n

\"Determined<\/p>\n

Determined Samantha<\/p>\n

A mum is set to run the London marathon – while 30 weeks pregnant<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Samantha Donaldson, 33, signed up for the running event after being inspired by watching <\/a>the 2025 event. However, a few months into her training, Samantha from Edinburgh discovered she was pregnant with her second child.<\/p>\n

Determined to power through, Samantha, who also shares son Fyn, three, with her husband Campbell, 31, decided to continue her training, and will be 30 weeks pregnant when she crosses the finish <\/a>line, on April 26. Samantha, who works in events, said her tiredness and sore bump have made training difficult, but added that she is determined to prove that women shouldn’t have to step back from life, just because they are pregnant.<\/p>\n

\"Samantha<\/p>\n

Samantha with her bump<\/p>\n

Samantha, who first told her story to Talk to the Press said: “I signed up for the marathon <\/a>last year, after watching all of the amazing runners on TV. Then in October 2025, I became pregnant with my second baby.<\/p>\n

“I considered giving up my place and trying to enter <\/a>again another time, but it’s so hard to get a place, and I didn’t want to give up the experience. I didn’t even know if it was possible to run a marathon pregnant, but I spoke to my midwife and she said as long as there’s no complications with my pregnancy, she had no problems with me doing it.<\/p>\n

“I’ve absolutely loved the training. Obviously, it’s been really tough<\/a>, there’s been times that I’ve been really tired, or my bump feels heavy and sore, but I’ve really enjoyed it.<\/p>\n

“I’m a big advocate for women being not being told that we have to stop because we’re pregnant<\/a>. You can be one of the strongest versions of yourself whilst pregnant.<\/p>\n

“I’m not saying every woman has to run a marathon<\/a>, but being pregnant doesn’t mean you have to step back from your whole life. This process has taught me that I can do anything. Pregnancy shouldn’t be something that holds us back. It should be something that empowers us.<\/p>\n

“We’re doing something amazing with our bodies already. So why not go for it, and grasp <\/a>life with two hands.”<\/p>\n

\"-\"<\/p>\n

Samantha decided to run the London marathon <\/a>after becoming inspired by watching it on TV in April 2025. As a keen runner, she had done a marathon once before, but suffered a knee injury during the race, so didn’t get the time she had hoped for.<\/p>\n

“This was going to be my redemption marathon<\/a>,” she said.<\/p>\n

She signed up, and got a charity place with the MS Society, as her mother-in-law and cousin both suffer from the condition. However, a few months into her training in October 2025, Samantha discovered <\/a>she was pregnant with her second child.<\/p>\n

But after seeking medical advice she decided to continue training<\/a>. During her first pregnancy, Samantha spent nine months “sitting on the couch” and eating.<\/p>\n

“It was very unlike me, I’ve always been a very active <\/a>person,” she said.<\/p>\n

Due to her strict marathon training, Samantha’s second pregnancy <\/a>has been the complete opposite, and she said that she is thankful that it has given her the motivation to stay active. She has followed a strict plan with her “amazing” coach Mark, from On Your Marks Coaching, however, due to being pregnant, any running time she had in mind has “gone out of the window”.<\/p>\n

“Normally, when you train, you get faster and fitter, but because I’m pregnant, throughout my training, I’ve been getting slower and more unfit,” she said. My goal <\/a>is just to complete it.”<\/p>\n

Samantha said that overcoming the intense tiredness <\/a>being pregnant makes her feel has been the hardest part of the process. “It’s so hard, sometimes I think ‘why am I doing this?'”, she admitted.<\/p>\n

However, she said that the determination <\/a>to prove that women don’t have to stop just because they are pregnant has spurred her on throughout her journey. Samantha’s friends and family have all been super supportive of her decision, and her husband Campbell has stepped up to take on extra responsibility for Fyn so that she has plenty of time to train for her runs.<\/p>\n

“I feel so much better after a run, so it makes me a better mum,” she said.<\/p>\n

Samantha is set to give birth to a baby girl in July, and hopes to start running <\/a>again as soon as doctors say it is safe. She is running the marathon to raise money for the MS Society. You can donate here – https:\/\/2026tcslondonmarathon.enthuse.com\/pf\/sam-donaldson<\/a><\/p>\n

Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google\u2019s preferred sources. Click HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Samantha Donaldson, 33, signed up for the running event after being inspired by watching the 2025 event.Olivia Stringer…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12486,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[2298,123,27,5886],"class_list":{"0":"post-12485","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-charity","9":"tag-edinburgh","10":"tag-london","11":"tag-pregnancy"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116393473627429672","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12485","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12485"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12485\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12486"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12485"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12485"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12485"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}