When Dreams Outrun Uncertainty: Brooke Wildermuth
- Kyle Klingler
- Apr 6
- 8 min read
Balancing the transformation of becoming a mother with the drive to keep pursuing your own dreams is rarely straightforward, especially in running. While it's easy to celebrate the beauty of life and all of the amazing moments that come with it - the challenges of postpartum life and the physical demands of childbirth are often dealt with in the background. And as moms take on this new focus on their children, their own personal aspirations often get put on the backburner. Finding the right path to maneuver getting back to these personal goals can take time.
For Brooke Wildermuth, that reality came into full view this year. Just one year after welcoming her son into the world, her running journey reached its highest point yet when she shattered her marathon PR at the McKirdy Micro Marathon, running 2:35:48 and officially qualifying for the 2028 Olympic Trials. The path to that finish line was far more complex than a time on a results sheet can ever show, but her commitment to a dream, through ups and downs, culminated in an achievement that speaks for itself.
Her running career began the way it does for many athletes: in high school cross country and track. Although she found early success, she chose not to pursue competitive running in college, and years would pass before she rediscovered her love for racing. When she did return to the sport post‑collegiately, she steadily worked her way up, eventually becoming one of the fastest runners on her club teams and setting her sights on the lofty goal of achieving the OTQ.
Reaching a true attempt at the marathon standard took time, including several races and the challenge of the significant time drop from the previous 2024 standard. But through multiple training cycles and occasional setbacks, she stayed committed. Eventually, the moment when everything aligned arrived, and she seized it.
After her breakthrough race, we caught up with Brooke to talk about achieving the OTQ, navigating postpartum running, taking a long break from competitive racing, and how her relationship with the sport first began.
How are the vibes this week post OTQ?
Vibes are GREAT! Trying to let it all soak in and enjoying 'lazy' mornings with my son. I have had 0 desire to run and will definitely take 10 days off minimum before hopping back into any kind of running.
At what point in the race were you for sure that it was in the bag?
I actually do not love the marathon - it is too long for me ! But it's a lot harder to qualify for the trials in track events. But anyways, so around mile 9 in my head I was thinking... 'wow I have 17 more miles of this... can I actually do this (slash want to do this)? I'm not so sure.' Then around mile 16, I felt very locked in and the effort didn't seem too high so I was fairly confident at that point. Then once I finished mile 20 and was able to crank down a few seconds, I knew for sure I was going to hit the standard. It was a 3 mile loop course so I also started bawling at mile 23 when I passed my family and friends and it hit me that it was really happening.
What was this training cycle like for you? Did you have a coach?
This training cycle felt different vs. previous cycles. When I went for the standard in 2023 at Chicago, marathon pace did not feel sustainable. This time around, for whatever reason, it started to feel comfortable and doable. I also just didn't have as much time to dwell on my cycle as I did before... having a kid will do that! But in a way, I think this was a positive for me. This was also one of my lowest mileage blocks for a marathon, coming off of a stress reaction in my femur in August 2025. My coach and I decided to max out around 70 miles per week but also incorporate ~2 biking sessions per week. This put my total time working out closer to the 80-90 mile weeks you typically see in our circles, but lowered my impact risk. I really enjoyed it and would encourage more athletes to look into supplementing cross training to build without injury setbacks (especially postpartum). I've been working with my coach from Brooklyn Track Club (NY), James Chu, for almost 4 years. He now lives out in Salt Lake and trains (on occasion) with Keira D'amato's group.
Less than a year ago, your son was born. How did you handle the return back to running postpartum?
NOT WELL (lol). I would advise all postpartum runners to ignore my first few weeks back! I tried to come back after only 4 weeks and immediately started to train for Chicago 2025 and ended up with a femur stress reaction because your bone density can be compromised postpartum. It's hard because you lose a big piece of yourself during pregnancy and postpartum and returning to things you love help bring back some sense of 'normalcy'. But next time around, I would wait closer to the 6-12 week timeline most doctors advise and probably aim for a 5 or 10K before a marathon (whoops). Coming back from my stress reaction, we did the right thing. We slowly ramped up mileage, trained for a half before a full and used biking and an alter G to take off some of the weekly load. Your fitness comes back SO quickly. Days/weeks off won't derail your career. The human body is amazing. I wish I understood that more at the time after giving birth.
Let's go back to the beginning, where did you first begin with running?
I started playing soccer when I started walking. I was decent but I was never great. I was fast but the 2nd the ball was on my foot, I got clumsy. My junior year of high school, I wanted to step away from the sport but my parents wanted me to continue to be a part of a team so I agreed to go out for the track team in the Spring. Turns out I was a lot better runner than soccer player so that was really when my running career began. My senior year we went to State for Cross Country and I ran a 19:23 (6:14/mile). In the Spring, I was on the 4x800 team that went to State as well. Shout out to Dan Bird and go SUA Bulldogs!
Did you find success in the sport early on?
I did. Running has always felt very natural to me--like I mentioned earlier, I was very average at soccer but I remember smoking almost every teammate during any running drill. Once I joined the HS track and cross country teams, I was almost immediately put on Varsity and think I still have some records on the school board.
Did you consider running in college?
I did. I received offers to run at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Dayton. I decided to go to Indiana University for their business school and the coach offered me to walk on the team. However, my senior year track I was constantly battling a bad case of shin splints. This seems like a silly, minor injury now but I think I was young and didn't really know what I wanted to do with my life. In retrospect, I'm happy I didn't run in college. I have a lot of friends who did and got burnt out. Sometimes I think stepping away from the sport was exactly why I was able to come back to it with some much passion and motivation.
While you were in college, did you miss running or ever dabble with it? Or did you step away from the sport completely?
I don't think I missed it because I would still run. I was always considered the 'runner friend'. But it was MUCH different vs. running in college and my running now. I would run 3-5 miles a few times a week (maybe 2-3 times) and I would lift a few times at the rec gym.
Did you ever consider running a marathon a reality at some point?
Definitely not in college. After college, I actually ran a few marathons for fun until 2022 but I'm pretty sure my PR was 3:45ish. I was traveling Monday-Friday for work and would only run 10-20 mile weeks.
While in NYC, you ran with Brooklyn Track Club. What was your time like with BKTC?
I looked back at my running logs, and started running with BKTC in May of 2022. A friend of mine in New York joined the club and we would occasionally run together. She kept trying to get me to come out and I kept brushing it off saying that I didn't want to ever get back into running seriously. One morning (for whatever reason), I decided to lace up my shoes and go to one of their 'Track Tuesday' practices. It was SO FUN! I hadn't ran that fast in forever. I remember my friend coming up to me and she was like 'HOW DID YOU JUST RUN WITH THAT GROUP?!' Turns out I ran with one of the top groups and had no idea. The rest is history and I now spend way too much time running.
After BKTC, you came back to Cincinnati. How did you connect with Cincinnatus Elite?
I reached out to my buddy, Nick Stenger who lived in Cincy at the time. I was really nervous about moving back because the running community in New York is so amazing. He assured me that it was a solid group and I met up with the team when my husband and I came back to house hunt. It was nice to see that the running community has evolved so much in a smaller city and there are so many legit runners on the team.
What do you enjoy most about being on CE?
One of the biggest reasons I run is to be social. I've made so many amazing friends from running. Some of my closest friends in Cincinnati I've met from the club. We are also starting to build a bigger mom runner presence within the club which is so important for female runners as you start to get back into running because it's really only something other moms will understand.
Looking at your whole career thus far, what are your top 3 moments?
1. OTQ (obviously)
2. The Flying Pig 2024 - this was such a fun marathon (minus that heat) and block with the CE team. We had a huge crew training together and it really felt like a team effort
3. Honestly just a compilation of all the funny long runs where my friends and me just talk about all things under the moon and mess around
What advice would you give to runners on there on how to see consistent improvement like you have?
You have no idea what you're capable of until you try. And not only do you have to try, but you have to work REALLY hard. Good things don't come easy. Push yourself to extremes in workouts and stay consistent. I started training for the OTQ with a 3:14 marathon PR and I'm sure there were people who rolled their eyes. I ran Chicago 2023 in 2:44:04, a 30 minute PR. I decided to have a baby and keep trying for the OTQ and again, I'm sure there were people who rolled their eyes. But I knew deep down that I had it in me and was able to PR by another 9 minutes for the OTQ.
What are your next goals in sight?
NO marathon in the Fall . I am going to focus on the 5K to the 10K this summer and then hit a few halves this Fall. People crank out marathon after marathon, but I like to go back occasionally and sharpen my speed to see improvements in my marathon pace.
We look forward to watching Brooke continue to chase dreams and eventually race at the 2028 Olympic Trials Marathon!
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