The three little pigs, a runner's motivation

CINCINNATI - It’s not unusual to see Kelly Hampton stretching these days in her West Side neighborhood but it wasn’t always like that.

Kelly admitted, “I never ran before this. I danced a little bit growing up but, other than that was never really athletic. ”

Over the past several months, Kelly has been running, and running, and running some more. All because of three little miracles. Mac was one pound twelve ounces when he was born. They call Mac their “tiny guy” or “Mac attack. ” David was the biggest triplet weighing in at two pounds six ounces when he was born. Finally Lily weighed two pounds two ounces.

Kelly went to the hospital only twenty weeks into her pregnancy. Nine weeks later, Mac, David, and Lily were born.  They were born three months early.

“When I was on bed rest I was laying flat for nine weeks and I remember thinking, when I get out of here I’m just going to run.  I’m going to get up and run. ”
That explains part of this story.  Sure Kelly wanted to lose weight after her pregnancy and get back into shape. But, giving birth to the triplets was just the start. The triplets were in the hospital for three months after Kelly gave birth to them. “To watch them struggle just to breath and to fight.. it’s just something that we take for granted so much and to see them, I mean two pounds and they are fighting for their life. Literally, just trying each and every breath was so important to them. ”

When the triplets were released from the hospital, Kelly made good on her promise to start running.  She joined a running group at Bob Roncker's running spot.

“I found myself being motivated by Kelly. I’m very proud of her because you know anybody can say you know ‘I have three kids, there’s no way I have anytime to exercise or do anything of that nature’ and somehow my wife found time” bragged Kelly’s husband, DJ.

It seems nothing can stop Kelly’s stride.  Last week when the temperatures dropped and the winds picked up you could still find Kelly running uphill in Oakley.

To Kelly running is now her therapy, “You feel great! They talk about runners high, every time I get back from a run I’m in a great mood, it’s the cheapest form of therapy I’ve found. ” Her husband, DJ admits, “You can tell, It’s night and day. A couple long days with the kids and Kelly will go for a run and It’s a complete 360. ”

Kelly and DJ have a computer full of memories from this hectic year. Each triplet comes with their own separate personality. There’s Mac, the quiet one who can yawn and smile almost simultaneously. Then there’s David, the curious one.. when his eye lids aren’t getting heavy. Finally there’s Lily, first to the bottle, first to crawl, and first to her mom’s necklace.

Finally there is Kelly, the now mother of three.  She was due to have the trio on May 6 ^th of 2011.  Coincidentally, one year later she’ll run the Pig Half Marathon on May 6 ^th.

Kelly is confident when it comes to the Marathon. “I think at about 8 or nine miles I’m going to be feeling pretty good. At that point I think I’ll be like I can do this. I can finish this. I’ll turn the bend and round third and head home. ”

Come May 6 ^th , Kelly's three strong motivators will be in her cheering section dressed appropriately as the three little pigs.