Chad Kempel, a father of quintuplets, has multiple reasons to feel proud. He just set a world record for running a half marathon in 2 hours and 19 minutes — while pushing his five youngest children in a stroller.
Between the carriage and his 4-year-olds, Kempel was propelling an additional 240 pounds when he crossed the finish line at the Oakland Running Festival in California last month.
“I carried a sign with me that said, ‘Anything is possible,’” Kempel, who lives in Idaho, told TODAY Parents. “I repeat that phrase all the time — and it seems to be working. The other day, my daughter was like, ‘I can’t lift this,’ and then she stopped and said, ‘Wait — anything is possible.’”
The data scientist and his wife, Amy Kempel, welcomed three boys and two girls — Lincoln, Noelle, Grayson, Preston and Gabriella — in January 2018. They are also parents of daughters Savannah, 7, and Avery 5.
Kempel said it was a challenging race, noting that it was hot and he was exhausted.
“The kids were saying, ‘Run faster, Dad!’” he said. “They thought it was hilarious.”
At one point, Kempel turned to his wife, who was riding a bike alongside him, and announced that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to finish.
But of course he did — and in the process he earned a spot in the Guinness World Records.
It’s not Kempel’s first Guinness World Record, either. In 2019, he ran a full marathon — 26.2 miles — in five hours and 31 minutes, with his quintuplets in tow.
But instead of hugging his family at the finish line, Kempel kept going. Amy had carried the babies for 27 weeks and 3 days, and he wanted to honor her by running exactly 27.3 miles.
“It is nothing compared to what she went through but I wanted to pay tribute to her,” he explained.
Kempel said he has no plans to do another marathon while pushing a stroller.
“I’m done,” he said. “But if Adam Busby from ‘OutDaughtered’ were to pop up and be like, ‘I wanna beat that record,’ I might take it as a challenge.”
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