Chad Kempel, a dad of 7 including quintuplets, had just set a world record for running a half marathon in two hours and 19 minutes while pushing his five youngest children in a stroller.
Kempel propelled an additional 240 pounds when he reached the finish line at the Oakland Running Festival in California last month. He carried a sign that said, "Anything is possible."
The father of seven said he repeats the phrase all the time, and it works every time. Kempel earned the record for the fastest male marathoner to push a quintuple carriage, the Guinness World Record announced.
According to Today, Kempel's first Guinness World Record was in 2019 when he ran a full marathon in five hours and 31 minutes while pushing the quintuplets. He ran farther past the finish line until he hit 27.3 miles to honor the 27 weeks and 3 days that his wife carried the quintuplets.
A devoted father of seven
Amy, Kempel's wife, said he is a great dad and is very devoted to the kids. Good Morning America reports he trains at 4 A.M. to spend more time with the kids. The mom shared she gets help from Kempel when he is not working. He is a data scientist who works from home and is the family's breadwinner.
Kempel noted he basks in the love and joy that his family gives. The couple admitted that they had had plenty of chaotic moments, including a period in time when the quintuplets had to use 100 diapers a day. They also had family memories that lasted a lifetime.
In February, the couple took their seven kids to Disneyland while visiting Kempel's parents in California. They noted that seeing the kids bond with their grandparents was a priority, despite money being tight at home.
The couple's path to parenthood
Per People, the couple tried having children for two years before starting intrauterine insemination (IUI), a fertility treatment requiring Amy to take medication to stimulate her ovaries and release an egg. Kempel's sperm was inserted into her uterus to fertilize the egg. They later learned that they were having twins and were elated, but the twins died after they were born.
The couple did not give up and had their daughter Savannah in 2014. The second daughter was born in June 2016. Amy wanted to stop, but Kempel wanted to keep trying for the third. In 2017, she learned she was pregnant again, and they suspected that she might be carrying more than one. They thought it was just twins, but the doctor said they would be having five. She was devastated as Amy feared that she might lose the babies. The doctors advised them to terminate the multiple pregnancy, but they refused.
After several doctor's consultations, Amy gave birth to Lincoln, Noelle, Grayson, Preston, and Gabriella in January 2018, while the babies were 27 weeks and 3 days old.
After 73 days in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, the couple was finally able to bring the five darling babies home.
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