Influencer Allison Kuch was able to balance running the 2026 TCS New York City Marathon with motherhood — and without missing a step.
“Six months postpartum, and I’m here,” Kuch, 31, said in a Sunday, November 1, Instagram video, taken at mile marker 17 in the middle of the 26.2-mile course while breastfeeding her 6-month-old daughter, Pepper. “[When] moms put their minds to something and go after it, like, moms are so powerful.”
Kuch received plenty of support in the comments.
“You are incredible! Mile 17 is where everything starts to break down and here you are shining, inspiring, and breastfeeding!” Tyler Cameron, who has run the NYC Marathon multiple times in past years, replied. “Unreal! Honored to call you a friend.”
Brylee Armstrong added, “My idol [for real].”
Kuch gave birth to Pepper in April. (She also shares daughter Scottie, 2, with husband Isaac Rochell.)
Rochell, 31, and Allison’s sister, Emily Kuch, were among the influencer’s biggest cheerleaders on race day.
“WTF is nonchalant,” the former NFL player wrote via Instagram on Sunday, showing off his Allison-inspired purple T-shirt, multiple cameras and a giant poster with his wife’s face on it. “So locked #nycmarathon.”
Allison revealed earlier this week that she would be running the marathon with makeup brand Maybelline “for mental health” initiatives.
“Fun fact — there are ‘lactation stations’ along the route, so you don’t have to pack a [breast] pump,” she wrote via her Instagram Stories on Friday, October 30, revealing her mid-race nursing plan. “They have pumps provided at the start line and there’s three stops on the route.”
For Allison, she wanted to run the marathon to teach her daughters an impactful life lesson.
“I can’t give up on my dreams, my daughters are watching,” she added via Instagram on Friday.
Before making her way to the starting line, Allison has been candid about her postpartum experience since welcoming Pepper.
“When people ask, ‘How are you doing postpartum?’ My brain goes to two places: sleep and mental health,” she said on the latest episode of the couple’s “Couldn’t Agree Less” Netflix podcast. “Here’s my issue with postpartum: Everyone worries about the baby, about birth [in the moment]. … Four months postpartum, nobody’s checking in, and I would say that’s the hardest time of postpartum.”
Allison added at the time, “Four months postpartum is hard because you’re out of newborn-ness, your baby’s more aware, they don’t want to be set down, you’re going through the four-month sleep regression, you’re still breast-feeding. People are expecting you to be back and, like, mama is not back.”
