Record-breaking dad runs Oakland's half-marathon pushing quintuplets in stroller
OAKLAND, Calif. - A 40-year-old father of quintuplets accomplished a record-breaking feat, running Oakland's half-marathon on Sunday, all while pushing his five four-year-olds in a stroller.
Chad Kempel was among the thousands of runners who took part in Oakland's Running Festival, which returned to in-person races for the first time since 2019.
Kempel couldn't be missed on the half-marathon course, as he pushed roughly 240 pounds in a special five-seater stroller for the 13.1 miles through Oakland.
His wife, Amy, rode a bicycle alongside him and the kids, so she could be on-hand to help with the children if needed.
But the running team sailed through the race in an incredible 2:19:54 time.
"While I'm out there, I'm thinking about what the kids went through when Amy was pregnant with them, and then and what Amy went through. And it really showed me that anything is possible," Kempel said.
Sunday's race was the second time he ran Oakland's half-marathon with the intent to sail into the Guinness World Records in this specific category.
He tried to break the record in 2019 with his then-one-year-old quintuplets. With a time of 4:49:29, he missed breaking a record by minutes, as Guinness had set the cut-off time for crossing the finish line at 4:45:00.
This time around, he cleared the finish line with plenty of time to spare. Guinness still needed to verify Kempel's time in Sunday's race to make the record official.
It would be the third Guinness World Record the accomplished runner has set with his quintuplets. He set a record at the Modesto Marathon in 2019, for finishing the 26.2 miles course in 4:42:49 with the kids.
He's also set a record for running the fastest 10K pushing a quintuplet stroller, which he ran in 1:04:52 in Idaho.
The record-setting running dad said he's officially now retired from stroller-pushing races.
Guinness said it planned to display the family's stroller in one of its U.S. museums.