Welcome to the Allie on the Run show.
I'm your host, Allie Feller, and this is where I talk with people who are doing exciting things on the run and beyond.
From professional athletes and celebrity runners to the everyday amateur and back of the pack runner.
We are here to celebrate everyone and anyone who enjoys a life on the run.
So, whether you are running towards something big or away from something that's been holding you back, I am here to hold your hand and help you pick up the pace.
My guest today is Emma Bates.
Emma is a professional marathoner based in Colorado, where she is coached by Joe Bossard and is sponsored by Asics.
This past fall, Emma ran the Valencia Marathon in 225. pregnant.
Emma found out that she was pregnant the day after the race, and in this conversation she talks all about it.
She also talks about this past week which has been an eventful one for Emma.
I'm sure you've seen it.
She posted a reel on Instagram sharing that her fueling company had dropped her after telling them she was pregnant.
And boy, did this blow up.
It quickly became the latest very hot topic in the running community.
And so naturally, I was eager to talk to Emma about all of it.
On a personal and professional note, the fueling company Emma is referring to but didn't name is UCAN.
UCAN has also been a longtime frequent partner of the Alley on the Run show.
We've done live shows together and they've sponsored the podcast over the past few years.
In 2025 our existing agreement was terminated, but UCAN did return to the show this month to sponsor two episodes, the second of which was scheduled to come out last week.
I made the decision and UCAN was in agreement to pause that episode sponsorship indefinitely.
As you all know, it is so important to me that the brands I partner with are ones I'm proud to stand behind, both when it comes to their products and their principles.
You hear me talk all the time about the shoes, the pillows, the headphones.
And I think you hear me talk just as much about Kristen, James, Summer, Ryan, Seven.
I truly believe in holding people and brands accountable and in giving them room and space to grow and change.
And the people behind the brands matter a lot to me.
So I'm still wading through these waters, and I am doing it slowly and intentionally.
So often we see this big public outcry, whether it's a strong collective, reactive response to a half marathon championships gone wrong or to an opening line from an Instagram reel.
I've spent a ton of time this week reading, talking with people and trying to form my own opinions on what may or may not be a nuanced situation.
I am obviously referring to Emma and you can hear.
Transparency is so important to me.
This show would not exist without support from my partners, but also without your support.
I have worked really hard to earn that and to earn your trust.
And I hope you know how important it is to me to maintain that.
So we're figuring it all out.
My point, Emma Bates is here.
Let's talk to her.
Emma Bates.
How's your week going?
It is a lot.
A bit overwhelmed, but mostly in a good way.
All right.
Well, I have to ask because this is how I like to start the show here.
What is something that's making you happy today?
Um, my goat just gave birth the other day.
And so we have three little baby girls just running around and they're so precious.
So that is just the light of my life right now.
Congratulations.
So not only are you pregnant and going to become a mother, you're like a grandmother now, because your goat babies have babies.
Yes.
Have you named them three little girls?
Congrats.
Do they have names?
They do not.
So if anybody has any ideas, let us know.
They're yep, they're triplets.
So they're adorable.
And one of them looks like Louise.
And then the other two like look more like one of them is like a little runt, like she's a smaller of the three.
So she has these little like Dobby ears.
And I want her name for Dobby so bad.
But Steve, my husband is like, I don't like it.
That's weird.
He doesn't know Harry Potter.
He doesn't understand Harry Potter.
So I'll give him that.
But we've got to come up with three different names.
This might be a huge like brain fart on my end, but Steve, my husband.
Oh, did I know that?
I'm like in my head, I'm like replay her Instagram right now.
Like you looked at it this morning.
Was there like, did I miss something?
Did I know this thing?
No, no.
Most people do not.
We have been telling people in person.
This is again, like we don't share everything on social media.
Yeah.
We did get married.
You can self solemnize in Colorado, which that sounds terrifying.
You basically just sign a paper and you send it in to the state and you're married.
You can just marry yourselves.
I have a lot of a lot of overwhelming thoughts right now.
Wait, when did you do this?
In July.
Oh, my God.
Congratulations.
Thank you.
We have been trying to conceive for a while.
So we... thought it was a good idea for me to be on Steve's health insurance.
As a pro athlete, we don't get health insurance.
So that is something that's very important when you're having a baby to have.
So it was kind of more of like the paperwork side of things and for the health insurance reasons, but we just knew that we wanted to be married.
We're just very committed to each other. and want to spend the rest of our lives together.
So we just did it.
Oh my gosh, this is really exciting.
And I mean, it's a romantic tale as old as time about we decided to get married.
We love each other and health insurance.
Yes.
Welcome to America.
Exactly.
Exactly.
But we do want to have an actual ceremony.
So like, do not fret, everybody is.
You're going to be invited, of course, to our Renaissance fair slash wedding.
And then that gets filed under things I'm not surprised to hear.
We're putting things in buckets today.
Do you think that you'll change your last name?
How do you feel about it?
Not until I'm done running.
So once my career of running professionally is over, then I will change my name so that our children, Steve and I, will all have the same name.
Yes.
Yeah, I like that.
Tell me about the day the day that you signed that paper and mailed it in.
Did you do anything like fun, cute, special?
Did you have an outfit?
What was the day like?
It was just like 730am.
I think we got on a flight to New York at the time.
Steven had a the band at Grand Prix.
So we were just flying out there and he was just working all, all weekend.
And it was my birthday that week.
And, um, no, it was just like, it was just a really good time.
Um, the whole, the whole week.
Did you find yourself blurting it out?
Like I'm surprised this has not made its way back to me.
I like to think as Kara Goucher once said to me, and I was kind of proud, I get all the good gossip.
I do get people to tell me things offline, but I had no idea.
So were you like, have you been keeping this pretty tight lipped?
Yeah, again, like we haven't announced it to people publicly.
It's just like if we see them and we want to share it, we do it.
And some people are shocked.
Some people are not surprised.
His entire like crew at Bandit like thought we were married for like, you know. the entire year.
So it, again, a lot of people just weren't surprised about it.
Well, I was also felt like a very bad journalist for a little bit there.
Like I should have known.
Well, I love that.
So happy for you too.
And how are you feeling, other than the emotional side of the week, which we'll get to, but physically, almost 20 weeks pregnant, almost at that halfway mark?
How are you feeling?
Good.
So much better now.
I honestly feel stronger every single day, which is amazing.
Like the pregnancy is just you know, it's so different for everybody and to feel the way that I'm feeling now compared to the first trimester.
I mean, thank goodness, because it's just it's tough and it's not what you expect.
And I thought I would be running a lot more.
And I just wasn't.
I wasn't able to.
I wasn't able to be physically active.
And as a very physically active person, I just was again.
I felt like I was in cabin fever in my body.
I just like felt like I couldn't do anything.
And it was really frustrating.
And, but realizing that so many people, so many women go through that.
Um, I just reached out to so many people that are currently pregnant or have been pregnant and they're like don't worry, it gets better.
And so that reassurance really kept me going and it was good.
Who are you leaning on?
Who are you talking to?
Who are some of the runner moms that you've connected with during all this?
Well, it's amazing the camaraderie of all mothers, but specifically the ones that are pregnant right now.
Emily Infeld, Grayson Murphy, Tristan Cauley, Callie Thackeray.
There's so many women out there.
Rachel Johnson.
So, like there's so many of us that are like going through the same things in our lives, honestly do around the same time, a few of us.
So it's really nice to have that kind of person to lean on and realize, like you know, you're not going through these things alone.
At the same time,
Is there a group chat or are these separate interactions?
There would be an awesome group chat.
Yeah, there's also group chats.
So it's really fun to kind of play around with what's going on and like, you know, different stages.
You know, Grayson's due soon.
Tristan's due, I think, any minute now.
Any day.
Yeah.
So it's so fun to see the different phases, I guess, of pregnancy.
Yeah.
So have you gotten back on the run?
What does that look like?
Yes.
So I am running consistently every day and I have not done any workouts of any kind.
I am really strictly just going by heart rate.
And I've been using my Coros heart rate monitor, Coros watch, to really monitor that, because I realized in the beginning I was going way too hard.
And I like my heart rate was just as high as like when I was running a marathon.
So again they say that you know, pregnancy is like going through or running a marathon.
The same energy expenditure is running a marathon every day.
So it makes sense.
My body is working really hard and I don't need to push myself right now.
So I'm just going on easy runs and just enjoying myself and being out there.
And just having the mental state of just being physically active just makes me feel better.
I mean, baby's already got a hell of a marathon PR 225 in Valencia, pretty impressive but you didn't know that day that you were pregnant.
Did you have any inkling?
Bring me back to Valencia.
I want to hear about the race, of course, but also how you were feeling.
And was there a part of you that was like, could I be?
So I got to Valencia and I just felt such heavy jet lag and I was so tired.
And I was like, I, You know, I'm just not like recovering well from the flight or something.
And my stomach just felt weird.
And I was just, oh, I had an aura ring at the time.
And so I had been tracking like my cycles and everything.
But I didn't think that I would be pregnant because we had been trying for so long.
And then coming out with the hemochromatosis diagnosis that just really kind of set things askew with my health and just like the likelihood of getting pregnant.
So we put everything kind of on the back burner.
And I was like I'm just really going to focus on Valencia and training hard and getting there and doing my thing.
So we stopped trying.
And so I was like there's no way, like we've been trying for so long and everything like it must be food poisoning.
I must have like pick something up along the way.
Yeah.
So I was like, OK, like, just don't even talk about it.
Don't speak it into existence.
Just get into the race and you'll be fine.
And I got halfway through the race and I was like planning to pick it up.
Both Kira De Amato and I were planning on going at this certain pace and then picking it up the second half.
And I just couldn't do it.
I just was so fatigued at that point and I couldn't get any of my gels down.
I just felt so sick, sick to my stomach.
And so I finished the race and I was just like, that just felt weird.
Like unlike any marathon I've ever run before.
And I thought for a second maybe I didn't do a celebratory Modelo after the race because I was like, maybe
So I did a Coca-Cola, which people had an issue with online.
They were like, where's the Modelo?
Like, what are you doing with a Coca-Cola?
What is this?
Like, this isn't it.
And I was like I couldn't tell anybody.
Obviously at the time, like you know, I might be pregnant.
And that's why I didn't do the Modelo celebratory.
Emma, you know, pop in the can.
What you do.
Yes, yes.
So it wasn't until the day after that I was like, you know what, I need to take a pregnancy test.
Like there's just, I just feel different.
And Steve was like, okay, like, of course, like. you know, but don't be disappointed if you're not.
And like, you know, you still had a great race.
And he was trying to reassure me that, you know, everything was good.
And sure enough, it was positive.
And we were just overjoyed, like the best results of any marathon we could have ever asked for.
I thought it was interesting.
You posted a little clip of the positive pregnancy test and it says pregnant.
And I was like, why doesn't it say it in Spanish?
So we actually flew to London the day after.
Oh, okay.
That makes sense then.
Because I feel like that would have been great if it were in Spanish.
Spanish.
It would actually be really perfectly tied in.
So if we can go back when you?
You know, you said it took a while to conceive for a professional athlete.
I have to imagine that this was not a decision that was made on a whim that.
We're seeing this amazing baby boom right now and it obviously makes sense timing wise with the Olympic cycle, with world championships and with all that goes into the calendar of a professional runner.
When time was going by and things weren't happening the way that you had hoped.
Other than the obvious stress and disappointment that come with that, was there a fear of like?
Every week is one week closer to the Olympics, to the trials.
What was going through your head in terms of the timeline that you were under?
Yeah, exactly that.
I mean, my.
Original goal was to make the Olympics, run the marathon, and then we would try after that.
But since that didn't happen, I was injured.
We set it back.
I was like, I want to run Boston and then we can try after that.
And Stephen being the most supportive partner was like, of course, like whatever you want to do.
But it is always in the back of your mind like the clock is ticking.
Biological clock is ticking, but also your career timeline.
So every time that you have that negative test is just like.
It is so deflating and it's so worrisome because you're trying to time this out, but you can't time this stuff.
It just has to happen naturally.
And so you know you want your sponsors to know that.
You know you're going through this phase of life, but you can't.
I don't know.
So much of your mindset is just like trying to get pregnant.
And it's so hard to be both places at once.
It's so hard to be all in. on training when you're trying to create life.
And so that's something that I don't think people realize, like it's not just the nine months of pregnancy, it's the months leading up to that, you know, trying to conceive.
And that's probably the most stressful time of you know this entire career is just like that timeframe of not knowing if it's going to happen.
Especially once I got the hemochromatosis diagnosis.
It was like very deflating, just because that causes a whole other slew of issues and can cause miscarriages.
And I did believe that I miscarried very early one of the cycles just because it was just there was a lot going on in that cycle that just lent to me thinking that was a miscarriage.
And sure enough, one of my doctors was like, it's probably because your iron is so high.
My iron, my ferritin was over 400 and they're like, this can cause a lot of issues.
It can cause infertility.
So that was really scary.
Just hearing that infertility statement was, is scary. it was hard.
And so again, I just shifted my focus.
I was like okay, let's just get on the right track, get my iron under control and just get back to training.
And then we can try after Valencia.
So I was planning on getting all these fertility treatments and all these things after Valencia, which is a scary thing in itself.
It's like, you know, IVF and all of those things.
Um, So amazingly grateful that I didn't have to do that.
But so many people have to go through that.
And even if you go through all the IVF, it still doesn't guarantee a baby on the other end.
And so that's the thing that I want people to know is the stress that women go through in just trying to conceive, not just the pregnancy itself.
I appreciate you sharing that.
I've thought a lot about that recently, as we're all so excited about the.
Every time a pro runner announces that they're pregnant, it's so exciting.
And I just have to wonder how many professional athletes are out there who are trying to get pregnant and seeing all the like statistically.
The math is there, like they're out there.
And so yeah, along with you, my Thoughts and heart go out to people who are in that struggle right now, because that's a really challenging and all-consuming place to be.
And of course, I'm really happy about where things are with you and Steve right now.
Can we talk about...
Checking my notes to say it right.
The hemochromatosis, which, man, they really gave you a mouthful of a disease to have there.
But this is it's a blood disorder.
Can you explain what exactly it is, what it's been like for you and and what you're doing to manage this?
Is there anything to do to manage this?
Yeah, so hemochromatosis is a genetic blood disorder.
So I actually got it from both sides of my family.
So my mother and my father had it.
Unknowingly.
Great stats.
Yep.
And it can be almost a superpower in which you have high iron.
So a lot of people have low iron, especially in endurance sports, but I also have celiac disease which causes low iron and iron deficiencies.
So I have been iron deficient in my past.
And so I started taking a bunch of iron supplements to try to make up for that deficiency.
And in doing so, I was basically poisoning myself.
And it got really bad.
And why we caught it is because I took kind of a step back from running so that I could conceive.
I thought, you know, maybe I'm just running too hard.
Maybe it's just too many miles a week.
I'm just going to dial it back, which was actually worse for hemochromatosis.
It's better to be training at a, high altitude at a high level.
And so once I hit 125 mile weeks, that was when my iron started to come back here.
That's just what we all need to do.
Yes.
So again, it can kind of be a superpower in the sense that you know you can train a lot more without getting that iron deficiency, but it does once you get high enough.
It's just like iron deficiency in the way that you feel.
So you're just really fatigued and you know your hair starts falling out and, like you know, there's just like a lot of things that are the identical to having anemia.
And so you don't want to get too high, especially because it starts to affect your organs.
So again, infertility can be an issue, but it can also attack your liver.
It can also attack your heart, your lungs, like it starts to attack everything in your body because it stores this iron and it's too saturated and it can cause basically those organs to fail.
So is this something that the baby will have to be tested for at some point?
Yes.
So I have been doing genetic testing, but once baby comes, we'll make sure that that's all situated.
I have a hematologist and I if I wasn't pregnant they would have had me do a phlebotomy so basically bloodletting so they would have taken a lot of my blood out in order to it like like restores so it kind of resets itself and so your body my body is trying to make a lot of iron so if you take out some of the blood. it like kind of balances itself out.
So that's kind of like the next step.
Like once I do have baby.
They don't want me to do it now, because they don't want me to become iron deficient.
They know that baby needs iron in order to thrive, but we don't want to be too high.
So we're just trying to manage it which, how I manage it, is basically doing chelation therapy, which is just drinking milk, green tea, anything to lower iron.
I'm staying away from things that, you know, absorb iron.
I stay away from obviously, alcohol right now, but alcohol is actually a really great way to absorb iron.
So wine, if anybody's low on iron, that's actually a great way to help absorb, especially, right.
Everything you're prescribing kind of sounds awesome.
Yes, yes.
But I'm staying away from red meat and anything with a high iron content.
So like spinach and like, you know, all those things.
So that's basically how we're managing stuff right now, and just getting blood draws all the time to figure out where we're at.
You're just a little science experiment.
Yeah, yeah, super fun.
Your body just absolutely going through the ringer, but also running a 225 in Valencia in the midst of all of it.
What are your reflections other than the big news of that weekend for you?
What are your takeaways, your reflections on your day in Valencia?
Yeah, it's funny how like disappointed I was about it, because I was like I just couldn't push myself.
Like I just, you know, where was I during that entire thing?
Like I was trying so hard, but I wasn't able to get the most out of myself.
And then you know, realizing it was a hot day, I had like a really high temperature because, you know, I was basically creating life and so you know, my body temperature and my heart rate were super high.
So, looking back, I'm like so proud of myself and so in awe that I was able to do something like that.
And Again, pregnant women can do anything.
And just seeing that performance and seeing how inspirational it was to so many, that really made up for just what I thought was a disappointing day.
So when you got that positive test in London, what was that like?
Oh, my gosh.
It was just so much relief, so much excitement.
But it's also, you know, you don't know if it's going to stick.
So it was like so much joy but also like trying to reserve that excitement because you know so many people close to me have had, you know, issues and miscarriages and stuff like that.
So it's just, you don't want to get too excited too early.
And that's the thing that's so hard about being pregnant so early, those first you know 14 weeks.
You're in that first trimester.
Not only are you going through the ringer of you know the first trimester symptoms, but you can't tell anybody about it.
And so you can't tell anybody, or you shouldn't tell anybody is what they say.
And Just keeping that a secret and not having that was just really tough mentally, you know, not being able to kind of reach out to people and be like you know this is happening, but I don't know if it's going to stick, because anything can happen.
I imagine there were at least a few people you told in that those early times.
Who were they?
So it was my coach because that's what I wondered.
He called me the next day and was like, so how was the race?
I was like, good.
Yeah.
It's so funny.
The reaction that I had was to explain to him my race before telling him I was pregnant.
So he was like yeah, it's just like run me through, like what happened, like you know, and I was just like I was just really tired, just couldn't push myself, and all this.
And he's like, he's probably spiraling.
Where did I go wrong in training?
What could I have as a coach done differently?
Right.
And then I told him after the fact, he's like, well, you could have led with that.
It's called burying the lead.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Good job.
And he was, he was so stoked.
He was overjoyed.
And He had taken that call in front of his wife, Emma, and my teammate, Gabby.
And of course they were like, what happened? they found out pretty early.
And then I shortly after that told my other teammate, Dom Scott.
So my little core group of my teammates knew right away.
And that was really nice to have, that like little support system that knew and knew, like kind of the changes I was going through and Um, not being able to run obviously as as much as I hoped.
So they, they understood and were stoked.
Who took the video of you on the treadmill?
I believe you're in the team boss gym where you did the caption of like marathon announcement.
Coming soon or loading or however you phrased it.
That was obviously very intentional.
Who shot that video?
That was Steven, my husband.
Oh, yes.
Yes.
So and also, I think it's important to note that I only went on that treadmill for like two minutes.
Yeah.
That was all I could do.
That was a content journey.
Yes, that was a content journey.
I was not running that fast the entire time.
That was just to get that in.
All right.
And tell us about the photo that you posted, which was kind of the expectation versus reality of the first trimester?
And I think probably lots of women who have been pregnant could relate to that photo.
You're like...
It looks like you're asleep on your side holding a banana peel.
Let's hear the story behind the photo.
What was happening?
I... could barely leave the bed or the couch that entire, it was eight weeks, I guess.
And I crawled out of my cave and came upstairs because I was so hungry, but I was so dizzy and weak that all I could manage to grab was a banana.
And Steven was on a call at the time.
He works from home when he's here.
And he saw me flat out on the floor, like, eating a banana.
But like, that was the position that I was in.
I think I had like been taking my heart rate because my finger and thumb is like on my artery, like making sure that I'm still alive.
But I was passed out.
I
That's all I could muster was getting a banana down.
It was so tough.
For six weeks, I had so many food aversions.
I never threw up, but I just couldn't eat anything.
It was just so disgusting.
What is the mental side like or what was it like for you of wanting something so badly?
And then you get the thing you want, but man, is it rough.
And so how did you navigate that?
Yeah, there was a lot of like guilt and it was something really hard to come out of.
But I just kept reminding myself, you know, like this is going to be worth it in the end.
Like this isn't going to be forever, which some people are sick for their entire pregnancy, which you know, I was hoping wouldn't be me, but it could very well possibly be.
So I was just like, You know, this is something that so many women go through.
And again, talking to all the women that I did, realizing that they went through similar experiences.
So just knowing that you're not alone is really the way that I got through.
It was like, you know, women have been doing this for thousands of years.
So this is, you know, I can, I'm okay.
Yeah, you're doing great.
This episode of the alley on the run show is brought to you by lagoon.
You hear it from me, you're hearing it from emma in this episode, you hear it from everyone that works with them.
Lagoon is a company you can absolutely be proud to support.
Support is also what you'll get from their pillows.
Well, you'll get whatever you need from their pillows.
If you need cushion, they have that.
Something a bit firmer?
Lagoon's got it.
How about a silky performance pillowcase?
Yeah, they are on it.
Lagoon's adorably named performance pillows are created by athletes for athletes, because we all know that we will perform better when we are well rested.
Lagoon's founder, Ryan Hurley, wants that for you.
And so do I. I sleep on the otter and man, am I happy every morning.
Well, maybe I shouldn't say I'm happy every morning, but I sleep well on my pillow.
Wouldn't it be nice to wake up without aches and pains?
The perfect pillow is going to help you so much.
You will wake up happier which is great news for everyone in your life and you'll run better, which is great news too.
To figure out which Lagoon pillow you should be paired with, head to lagoonsleep.com slash Allie.
When you get there, you'll be prompted to take Lagoon's two minute sleep quiz.
Just a few questions about how you like to sleep, so that Lagoon can match you with your perfect pillow.
Then use code Allie at checkout for 15% off.
That's lagoonsleep.com slash Allie to save.
Sweet dreams.
As we talk about timelines, there will be at some point, when you're ready, the next timeline of returning to racing.
And obviously so much of that will depend on how things go and how you're feeling.
But how much are you thinking about that and thinking about?
I imagine there is a calendar somewhere with dates like trials and Olympics on it, but you tell me How much are we in the present?
How much are we thinking about what comes next? it's an everyday occurrence about that.
Um, it, I flip flop back and forth about my psyche about it.
So, like some days, I can feel like really positive and like um, you know, I'm going to come back stronger than ever other days.
I'm like, there's no way I'm coming back from this.
Like my body's changing so much.
And like, I don't know how, I'm going to muster this.
So it is just kind of like that tug and pull of, you know, trying to be positive when they're all these negative thoughts kind of coming into play, because you're feeling a way that you've never felt before.
And you're gaining this weight and losing this muscle mass.
And you're just, you don't feel like yourself.
And so it's like, how am I ever going to get to that level again?
But then I try to reassure myself and say like, so what, even if I don't reach that same level again?
Like I'm going to have this amazing thing at the end of this nine months process?
Like will I care so much if I'm not, you know, as good as I was before, or better?
So that's something that I've had to kind of come to grips with.
And if, kind of found peace in is like, I don't need to be better than I was before.
And that's fine.
Yeah.
Are there women who you look to in the sport who have, at some point in their careers, had children and returned to running and returned to competing?
Are there women you've either connected with or that you look up to in that regard?
Yeah, Jess Trengrove, who just broke the Australian record, has reached out to me and it's just been so wonderful.
She's also pregnant right now.
That's a name that I forgot.
That's also pregnant.
She has been so wonderful.
Just like sharing her experience and how rough her pregnancies were too in the beginning, but she got so much stronger and is obviously so much better.
You know, on the other side of everything.
Just broke the record, which is awesome.
So again, having that reassurance, having that person that is just like in my corner, that knows firsthand and is going through the same thing right now.
But I mean every woman that has, you know, even if they haven't come back stronger, if they've just like come back into the sport and tried to, you know, run again and try to do their very best.
Like that is so inspirational to me.
Like again going through this cycle is just like so humbling, and I'm just in so much awe of every single woman out there, whether you know they've given birth or not.
Like this is just amazing being a woman and going through what we go through every single day.
Aren't we amazing?
Why are we not running everything?
God, the world could be better, just more efficient.
Yeah.
What do you and Steve call the baby?
And obviously, if you have names picked out, I would never ask you to tell me them.
I know better.
But do you have names picked out?
And what do you call the baby?
So we both call each other darling all the time.
Yes, you do.
So we call the baby mini darling.
Oh my God.
You did it.
You were cuter.
Love that.
When it comes to names, we can't agree on a lot of them.
So there's a lot of names that are like old man names that we really enjoy, which it's funny that a lot of our goats are like old person names too, like Louise and Eugene.
It's so funny.
So I don't.
I don't know if we'll stick to that trend or not, but we have a list and I'm excited to to share it when you know baby comes.
So mini darling, I mean.
I mean, who's going to get named first, the human baby or these three goats that are just prancing around the yard not knowing what to answer to?
Well, yeah, we need advice to get everybody to chime in on this.
I'm a little stressed about that.
Let's get into it.
Let's do this.
As you were sharing who you let in the inner circle when you found out that you were pregnant.
At what point did that circle start to include people like sponsors, your agent.
When did the business side become part of the conversation?
So I had mentioned to a few of my sponsors that I was going to try to get pregnant that year or this year.
And they were all so supportive, so excited for me said that you know they're not going to change my contract in any way.
Like, That reassurance from the get-go was like really comforting.
Loved that.
And just knowing that they were equally as excited for me as I was about you know, potential pregnancy was just phenomenal.
So ASICS, Coros Lagoon, Those three companies were just amazing from the very start of this whole process.
And they have been wonderful ever since.
OK, I don't know if I should share this publicly, but I will because you mentioned Lagoon.
I work with Lagoon as well.
And I have to shout out Ryan Hurley, who's like the nicest man in all the land.
When I shared my cancer diagnosis, he reached out and was like, we'd like to up our rates with you.
Oh, my gosh.
Like, we'd like to pay you more.
He is such a gem.
Seriously.
And I've never wanted to share that because it feels like a little, I don't know, like personal business, but also like if we're going to call brands out for missteps, let's also acknowledge that, like a small family owned pillow company was like you know what more more money for you.
So I love to hear that.
Yeah.
And same with, so I just got sponsored by a new company.
We were talking in February and I didn't know if they knew I was pregnant or not.
And then I was really nervous to tell them because I was like, this is a new company.
They don't know me that well.
Like I don't, We haven't had a relationship yet.
And then I told them and they immediately sent me a gift box with a bunch of baby items and self-care supplies.
I'm going to point them out now.
Yes, Lee, I've been drinking them.
You're not ready to go.
This is great.
Well, I drink these like all day, every day.
What are they?
Well, so it's, it's electrolytes, electrolyte water.
Okay.
Amazing.
It has B6 vitamins in it also, which helps with nausea.
So I've been, this has been my savior throughout this entire pregnancy.
So they would have been insane if you were like, listen, I'm pregnant.
And they were like, Ooh, not a fit.
You're like, no, no, no.
Like I need you.
This is mutually beneficial.
Exactly.
In those early conversations was your fueling company at the time, which we know as you can.
Were they part of those conversations, of the early people that you were letting know, or did that come up later with them?
I did not tell them until they sent an offer in December.
All right.
Want to walk through the timeline for us?
Bring us up to speed from your perspective about how things shook out.
And I would be curious to hear how much you personally are involved in these conversations and how much it's just like.
This is why I have an agent.
I let them take it from here.
Need to know basis.
Break it all down for us.
Yeah, so Ray is my agent, Flynn Sports.
I mean, he's been in the game for 20 plus years.
He is very reputable.
Everybody knows and loves him.
So he is my point of contact.
So I go to him, he goes to the company, he comes back to me.
So it's kind of like a mediator, basically.
And so he, yeah.
So if I tell him to say something, he will relay that exactly as I worded it.
And so on December 17th, we got an offer from UCAN and I agreed, I agreed to this offer.
And this was for the 20, is this for 2026?
Is it, are you on a one year?
Okay.
Yep.
In which time I told them I was pregnant.
So I was like, Ray was like, do you want me to tell them?
I was like, sure.
And so then, in January, they sent us a new offer that was significantly reduced from the original offer.
So December, you said, was the original and you accepted?
Yes, yes.
So everyone was in agreement to your knowledge in December about what your 2026 contract would look like.
Yes.
Okay.
From what I mean, again, I accepted the offer that they sent.
They sent Ray a new offer in the same format and again significantly reduced and, in their words, was the best they can do.
And so I told them I would like them to honor their original offer.
If they're not willing to do that, then I have to assume that they are making the decision to drop me.
And that was that was it.
Was there an explanation as to why this offer was different than what you received in December?
Not not in a way that made sense.
Yeah, it just it they completely changed their tune.
They left us on read for three weeks until they sent that offer.
So I don't know what kind of discussions they had in between sending that original offer and the new offer.
When you first told Ray and his team that you were trying to get pregnant and then that you were pregnant.
What was that conversation like?
Was there any thoughts from him?
Because we know historically we've seen brands. not treat women well during their pregnancies.
We've also seen a lot of brands make a lot of great change.
We've seen some great strides being made.
So I don't want to pretend that there's been no progress over the years.
There has been thanks in large part, to women like Alison Felix, Kara Goucher, some of the amazing women who have spoken out and made real change.
Did Ray have anything to say on the topic of like hey, this might mean something for your sponsorship?
Like was I hate to say, was it a concern?
But was that something you guys talked about?
I had reservations about telling UCAN about my pregnancy.
I didn't have reservations about telling my other sponsors.
Do with that information what you will.
But he was like, do you want me to tell them?
Because I think it would really up your value.
Like you, being a pregnant athlete in his eyes is super valuable and should be valuable to all companies.
And so I again wasn't going to share that information without them confirming the contract.
But he was like no, I really think this is important to tell them.
I was like okay, I you know again, I trust you and you know the market and the companies that you work with, or so I was like sure, let's do it.
And he was.
He was shocked that they came back with that new offer.
So Ray and co respond to that and say, no, we're not interested.
What happened next?
So yeah, they.
I mean I told them again if they don't honor that original offer, then I will assume they are dropping me.
And they're like, yep, that's the best we can do.
And so that was the end of January.
And that was the rest of our relationship.
And if they had sent me that new offer, the reduced offer first and not the original offer, then we would have parted ways peacefully.
But the fact that they changed it after me telling them I was pregnant is why we're here.
So you decided to share this week and it was it was quite cute because it wasn't.
And I'm here to bash my former sponsor.
You actually didn't even name them.
But as I saw one comment, someone said somewhere like.
You know, Emma didn't name the company.
She's not bashing them.
And everyone was like, but everyone knows who it was because this was a good partnership.
Like everyone knew who her sponsor was.
She talked about him all the time.
Like you're synonymous with each other.
That's that's a sign of things going well.
Yeah. from both sides, I think.
And so you decided to make this video, sharing just that one sentence at the very beginning, and then talking about other gels that you've been trying right.
A very informative post, but I wanna hear about the decision to share this, The decision not to name UCAN specifically in the video.
Can you bring us, give us, the behind the scenes of the gel tasting?
So I...
It was not my intention for so much hate to be perpetuated towards this company.
I again didn't name them but of course people were going to assume and a lot of people know because they follow me.
That it was going to be you can.
So again, I didn't intend for people to attack them in the way that they did.
I feel bad about that, especially because wonderful woman Charlotte had posted a collab reel with them and people were just commenting.
You know, just really intense stuff.
And I reached out to her.
I was like, I'm so sorry.
This was not my intention.
I like, this is not how I wanted things to go.
But I think people having such a strong visceral reaction goes to show that so many women have been treated unjustly and They are just reacting to something that maybe they've experienced in their lifetime.
And so it was important to share because if you don't talk about it, people don't know about it.
And if people don't know about it, change can't happen.
So I wanted to share that because and realizing that I can be a catalyst for change.
Um, if I can you know, be somebody in this sport like Alison Felix, Kara Goucher, Lucy Montano, that can change something for the next generation.
I want to take on that responsibility.
So that's why I wanted to post something and share that, because this is what is happening today, still to this day in 2026.
And the amount of women that I know in this sport that have similar experiences.
So many women reached out to me after sharing that and shared their experiences.
It is very disheartening to know that they are being treated this way.
Their agents are telling them to keep it a To be grateful that you're even being offered a contract while pregnant.
That is stuff that is just so, it's so frustrating to hear.
And again, I just want UCAN to take accountability, to change their ways.
That is the goal of that post was do better.
Not just them, but all companies.
Did you expect... I mean, this blew up so big, so fast.
Did you expect the response and the reaction that this has garnered?
No, definitely did not.
Definitely.
You know the post was to let people know, but I also like wanted to share that there's these great companies out there that you can try.
Like I haven't tried gels in three years because I had this.
You know what I thought was a great partnership.
And so it was awesome to try those things.
So You know, it's funny.
I'm like, did anybody watch the rest of the post?
You know?
Yeah.
Watch the opening line jumped right to the comments.
No, but I thought the first show that you talked about.
I have seen the branding and assumed it was pronounced striker.
And now I know that that's wrong.
So you educated.
Exactly.
That's what that's what my goal was for for, you know, the majority of the post.
But again, yeah, it became something something bigger than I thought.
And now I have that responsibility to kind of see this through and to hope that you know me speaking out.
Sharing my story can create change.
Have you heard from anyone at UCAN directly this week?
Yes.
One of the representatives reached out that evening and asked if they can clear the air.
I did not respond.
I have heard enough from this person after the negotiations, trying to backtrack, trying to defend himself and the company.
And that's kind of what you're seeing with all of the stuff that has been coming out that they've posted just false timelines and just flat out lies, which is very disheartening and disappointing.
So I don't like the way that they're handling this situation, but I didn't like the way that they handled the situation from the beginning.
So I didn't expect them to really handle this in an appropriate manner either.
What makes me really sad is not a single person from UCAN has reached out and has congratulated me on this pregnancy.
So that has been tough.
It's also hard, I imagine, because even aside from how this played out and the emotional side of it and obviously the financial side of it,
Also, you are a professional athlete who I imagine found what worked for you.
Like we saw you finish every race, every marathon with these gels in hand.
And I think, sure, we can put a price tag on certain things.
Like listen, if someone wants to pay me a certain amount to talk about a certain product, like and I don't mean like 500 bucks to hype a gel or whatever
I mean, if someone's like listen, we know that it's not great for the carbon footprint, but we'd love to give you a private jet.
Fine.
I'll talk about the private jet.
But like you found what worked for you as a professional athlete.
What is it like now to have to re figure that out?
Yeah, it was unexpected.
Again, UCAN does deals on a yearly basis.
So every year you know there's renegotiations and I fully understand that there's, you know, differences in budget every year.
So that was something to be expected, was kind of, you know, either a pay decrease or whatever else, to kind of have that discussion.
But they, you know, told me that they were really excited to continue this athlete partnership.
So I didn't seek anything else out.
I just waited for them to to make this offer and was just pumped to work with them going forward in 2026.
And so, again, I was like, well, back to the drawing board.
I mean, I haven't tried anything else in these three years.
So let's just try everything, which was a very fun process.
And again, it's just so beneficial to to where I'm at now.
I mean, I take gels every day before runs, during runs, after runs.
Um, it's funny.
Uh, i understand what kate grace went through now, so i don't know if anybody knows the story of when she crewed for myself and scott fauble marathon.
She was pregnant i don't know how, for how long she was, but um, she got nauseous during the time that she was crewing for us and driving around and she didn't have any snacks or any food in her car.
But she had our discarded gels and I suck mine dry.
I suck my UCAN gels dry.
So she didn't have any opportunity with mine, but he had his and he still had some of his left.
And so she used that and was good for it.
And I understand now, because I mean, once nausea hits, once the dizzy spells hit, I mean you need something.
Stat and gels are an amazing fuel source for that.
And I've heard so many women talk about how they've taken gels during pregnancy, or I mean during the birthing process, everything in the in the labor and delivery room.
So again, just yeah, I'm excited for the new prospect of working with a new company that does believe in, you know, supporting women at all stages of life, even though other companies claim to.
It's clearly not the case.
So it's been an eye opener to see how many people have reached out and are excited about this pregnancy.
Yeah, it's been really interesting and eye opening too, to hear parts of the conversation that are about how now is the single best time to invest in, for example, Emma Bates, because right now is the most relatable you will ever be to me and to people who listen to this show and to the everyday runner.
We can't necessarily relate to you saying what's going to help with my iron is running 125 miles a week.
Like that's not the cure for me.
That's not going to work.
But I can sure as hell relate to Kate Grace being in the front seat and being like I need something immediately.
And I don't know that I would do it, but I respect it.
But now is you at your most influential.
Don't get me wrong.
I love seeing you rip a fast time on a marathon course, be that top American in Boston.
All reasons to celebrate.
But right now is when I'm like, oh, her recommendations really count for something.
Because if it works for Emma Bates when she's pregnant, it's going to work for me.
So I've appreciated people weighing in on the now is the time to invest.
So with that, comments section has been, I mean, just absolutely on fire.
Yeah.
Bravo, pick this up because the running community is like ready for its own reality show.
But I saw lots of brands being tagged in your comments.
I saw lots of fuel brands specifically.
I think the feed had one that was funny that was like, we are respectfully sliding into your DMs.
What has the response from the business side been like?
Are there companies that you are now in talks with?
Yeah, so many people were so excited to share their experience companies that they, you know, are super excited about
And so they're sliding into my DMS and the actual companies are sliding into my DMS and it's great.
It's, it's it was again, not my intention.
The intention was to just educate people on these awesome gels that are out there and to note that you know, this thing happened to me.
That was not great.
But it's awesome to see the support and the excitement again for a woman that is in my position, somebody who's pregnant, you know, trying to train through this process.
And again we, we don't just stop.
You know doing, you know trying hard and putting our bodies through.
You know everything.
You know every single day.
And so it's awesome that they recognize that, like, this is the most important time to fuel.
But I have not been in talks with anybody, because again, that was not the point of the post.
But I'm not saying I won't be in talks with anybody.
I love that people are so excited about it.
So I need to really make sure that this next partnership is something that is, you know, real and um it, it's something that i just really need to think hard about.
Is there anything at this stage that you can can do to make this right?
Uh again, just um, being accountable for this whole situation, realizing that what they did was wrong.
They had a choice and they didn't choose the right one.
And to change, to do better, to just do right by, you know, not just female athletes or pregnant female athletes, but all athletes.
Um, so I hope that they learn from this.
That's the main takeaway is just, just learn.
Like you know, we have companies like Nike that you know treated women maybe not great when they were pregnant.
There was not pregnancy clauses.
Now that women have spoken up uh, like Kara Goucher and Alison Felix, They're they've completely changed the game and they learned.
They created change, and that's that's what we want.
Again, it's a new day it's a new age of time, let's learn let's grow together.
That's it.
I don't want people to.
I really do not want people to be throwing their you cans away also wasteful.
So it's expensive.
Love the sentiment.
But again, that's not what I want.
And I don't want to write off you can as a company.
I don't think they deserve that.
I think if they don't learn and change and grow from this, then it's an issue.
So I just hope that that can happen.
I love that.
I love the takeaway about, you know, We have to call things out when we see them.
But as humans, we also have to give people an opportunity to change.
So I appreciate you saying that.
And that was very well said.
So as we look forward, you'll be in Boston in a slightly different capacity this year.
What's on tap for Boston Marathon weekend for you?
A little different than last year.
I just I can't stay away from most marathons, but Boston especially.
I just love it so much.
And the BAA has always been so wonderful.
And to see you on the cover of BAA, it's just like it's so amazing.
It's just again, I can't I can't I would have too much FOMO if I didn't go.
So I'm going to be there.
Um, I'll be doing some stuff with Asics.
Um hopefully Coros, and um just hanging out and cheering for people.
I have some friends running which I'm just going to be out there with huge signs just cheering them on.
And uh again uh, just supporting everybody that um runs the marathon because Boston is so tough man.
It is a tough one.
So just being out there just doing their thing is just.
I'm always in awe of just everybody that gets out there and does the 262.
Yeah.
They're all gearing up for their last long runs and heading into the taper.
What is your advice to everyone listening?
Who's gearing up for the Boston marathon.
Soak it all in, like just take, take a moment, every single mile, to just look around you and like realize that you're.
It's such an historic moment.
Um, every time the Boston Marathon is is run, it's just so cool to be a part of.
So um, really just uh yeah, just absorb all of it and try not to Be too consumed by how hard it is.
Smile.
I always try to smile as much as possible, and it really does make it easier.
Yeah, we've seen it.
Find a race photo where Emma doesn't look happy to be out there.
Good luck.
Yeah.
And what about, is there a message you would offer?
And I appreciate how much you've shared and how much personal stuff you've shared here.
What would you say to the women, to the people who are in the thick of it when it comes to trying to conceive?
That is a journey that if you've been on it, you know it.
And if you haven't, I think it's hard to hard to understand.
So what do you say to the women that you can really see?
You're not alone.
There's so many women out there that are going through this and know that you can talk about it.
Also, I think it's like such faux pas a lot of times in.
That's something especially with athletes female athletes that are trying to conceive.
It's like you know, with the whole sponsorship stuff it's really hard to talk about openly, publicly.
So I just want to encourage people to be more open.
If they are struggling, you know, to either reach out to a close source or reach out, you know, via somebody online.
I have been on Reddit a bunch, which has really helped.
Reddit scares me.
The pregnancy forum.
Okay, but if you do it the right way.
If you use it as an information source, because there's so much that doctors don't tell you.
There's so much that the internet doesn't tell you.
But going through these Reddit forums and seeing all of the honest, you know experiences that women go through really helped me grasp that I'm not the only person that's going through this.
And again, not being alone is really just comforting to know.
So that's my advice is just seek it out.
However, you know you feel comfortable and don't be afraid to share what's going on and know that people are going to be in your corner, no matter what.
You're the best.
You got married.
My gosh, the journey we've gone on in the past hour, Emma.
I love getting to catch up with you.
You have new baby goats.
You secretly got married.
How is your phone doing this week?
Are you caught up on your correspondence?
I have to imagine your inbox is probably on fire.
How's that been?
I'm never caught up in my correspondences.
It's perpetually.
I think, oh my gosh.
Well, this is a lot of spam as well, but my texts are at 1,131 unread.
What are those, though?
I don't.
Yeah.
Some of them are real people.
Some of them are just spam.
But do I clear my phone ever?
No.
So I just leave it.
Well, I mean, I never clear my email and actually I never clear my text, but I'm at like 30.
That's that's more that's healthier.
Well.
Wow.
But a thousand.
Yeah, that's a lot of that's a lot of mental digital clutter.
But you're doing amazing.
I'm sorry.
I shouldn't shame you.
I'm not doing much better.
So just just fascinating.
Great.
You're also doing great.
I can't wait to see you in Boston.
I hope I get to see you in Boston.
Oh, yes.
Yeah.
Long overdue for a Bates hug, which are some of the best hugs.
And I appreciate you sharing what you've been going through, not just this week but over the past year or so.
You're helping a lot of people and you're the best.
And I appreciate you and I love you and hope to see you in Boston.
Thank you.
I'm going to hunt you down.
I'm going to hunt you down.
I'm going to be just running around looking for eyelashes.
They're like, where is she?
I will never forget at the, well, I say I will never forget, but I also have a bad memory.
So I do actually forget everything.
Um, you, I believe it was Boston when you came out in the Navy ASICs dress.
And everyone gasped.
And it was like, you know, press conferences, notoriously not cheerful.
Everyone is old school, all business.
They bring out the pro athletes and no one claps.
I'm like, what are we doing?
It's so awkward.
I don't want to say stuffy, but it's very formal.
It's very procedural.
I want to be enthusiastic and loud, but I remember you walking out in your dress and everyone going.
Cause it was like so exciting.
Like someone's wearing a dress at a running conference and it's a sporty dress.
So just know that you are all of our sporty spice.
Trying to spice things up as much as possible.
Are you too young for the spice girls or were you into them growing up?
I was more Backstreet Boys and NSYNC.
But yes, I mean, Sporty Spice was my favorite, of course.
You could also pull off Posh, don't you think?
Yeah, with the fishnets and everything, I could pull it off.
Yeah, I was thinking just like the cute little outfits, but specifically fishnets.
I love the memes that come out every now and then that are like the person who invented fishnets of, like a man fishing.
Wow.
Does Dave look kind of sexy right now?
Also, I love describing memes and botching them.
That's how you know that I'm bored. but we know we get it.
On that note, I'm going to go, I don't know, research Botox or something.
It's time.
You are the best.
Thank you for doing this.
I appreciate you.
Congratulations to you and Steve a million times over.
And I want the goats.
So bring them to Boston and I will get them from Boston to New Hampshire.
Like I take full responsibility from that point, but okay.
We'll get some baby carriers.
Put them in the baby carriers and and get on the plane.
Get them to you.
Oh my God.
Imagine you rolling through the airport with a triple stroller with goats in it.
Okay.
Now we have good ideas.
Right.
Yes.
Okay.
I love this.
See you soon.
Love you.
Appreciate you.
Thank you for doing this.
Thanks for having me on Allie.
Always, always a pleasure.
Thank you so much for being here for this episode of the Allie on the Run show with my guest, Emma Bates.
Big fan.
Huge.
Emma, thank you for doing this.
Congratulations.
Oh my gosh, you're a goat mother.
You're a goat grandmother.
Lots of exciting news in the running world right now.
See, I'm glad we got to cover all of it.
I appreciate you being here.
Thank you so much to Lagoon for sporting this episode.
When you go to lagoonsleepcom, slash Allie and use code Allie at checkout.
You're going to get 15 off your next purchase.
My favorite is the otter.
I also, I was going to say don't sleep on the pillowcases.
But do, do sleep on the pillowcases because that's what they're made for.
All right.
What else can I tell you?
I'm AllieOnTheRun1 on Instagram.
I am AllieOnTheRun.substack.com.
If you'd like to subscribe to my newsletter, you can choose a free subscription, or if you want to support a little extra, you can opt in for a paid subscription.
I appreciate that so very much.
And as always, you've got this.
You're doing great.
And thank you for joining me on the run.
