October 29, 2025 // Diocese

Fast Feet, Firm Faith: A Pro-Life Story

Christopher Lushis

Freelance Writer

Area Runner and Former Notre Dame Track Star Wins Two Half Marathons While Being 22-Weeks Pregnant

For Anna (Rohrer) Heiny, St. Paul’s encouragement to “run,” “train,” and “persevere” has proven inspiring not only for her faith but has also helped her endure many athletic events throughout her life, including some in truly life-giving ways.

Heiny, a native of Mishawaka, attended St. Monica Parish and graduated from the University of Notre Dame, where she excelled as a long-distance track and cross-country runner during her five years as a student there, which included a one-year master’s degree program in business management.

After graduation, she married her husband, Nick, at St. Monica in 2022 and moved to Indianapolis, where she continued running competitively, winning the half marathon in Indianapolis (the Indy Mini) in 2023. She then stunned the racing world when she won the event again in 2024, this time while being 23 weeks pregnant. The feat drew national attention and highlighted the intersection of faith, family, children, and athleticism.

Heiny told Today’s Catholic that her medical team was “very supportive” regarding her running during pregnancy, adding that “there were definitely people who were shocked and would say, ‘I can’t believe you would do that when you’re pregnant; that’s not good for you or your baby,’ but they were uninformed. The general guidelines for pregnancy are not to do things that you haven’t been doing before you were pregnant. But being a distance runner, having run multiple half marathons and marathons, to do that was perfectly fine. Luckily, I felt pretty good during my pregnancy, and our son, Vincent, came out healthy. I have read quite a bit about the benefits running can have on your pregnancy and for your child – and not just during pregnancy, but it can also potentially help your kid’s health in the long term. I think there’s a lot of research to back that up.”

Heiny, who has run two full marathons and four half marathons, joked after winning the event that she was unsure if she technically won or if Vincent had instead.

In 2024, Heiny also qualified for the Olympic trials for the marathon but ended up not getting to compete because of an injury – something she said she has dealt with throughout her running career.

“I had some severe foot injuries in high school that put me in a wheelchair for a season and a pretty bad back injury in college that also put me out for one main season as well,” Heiny said.

After having Vincent, she chose not to compete in the Indy Mini again this past May, saying that the process of returning to running wasn’t smooth.

“It took a while for my body to get balanced again, trying to run fast again without having any issues pop up,” Heiny said. “I would strain muscles randomly and have different issues here and there because my body wasn’t used to it. My body needed time to recalibrate and be ready to do that type of training again.”

However, she continued to persevere through the challenges of training after childbirth while raising her young son with her husband, Nick. Last month, she competed in the Fort4Fitness Half Marathon in Fort Wayne, which she won – while pregnant, again. This time, she was 22 weeks along with their second child.

“That was my slowest half-marathon time, but it was a really special one because I hadn’t gotten to a start line and felt at least somewhat prepared in a year and a half,” Heiny said. “It’s all perspective, right? I have to keep in mind what a reasonable expectation is for myself in different times of life.”

Even with it being her slowest time, she still averaged less than 6 minutes per mile for the 13.1-mile run.

While some marvel at Heiny’s successes, others might feel a sense of inadequacy at their own inability to do something so impressive. To that, Heiny said: “It’s all perspective and relative, because what I have been able to do during pregnancy is amazing, but keep in mind that I did run in college, and I have trained for this for more than half my life. It’s taken years and years and years to get to that point. And so, the best thing is to try to meet yourself where you’re at and give yourself the grace to do whatever you can do, especially while pregnant, because there are days when I wake up and it’s like, you know what? I just can’t run today. And that’s OK. Just keep in perspective that the things I do are less common, and they’re not for everyone, and that’s OK!”

Heiny also runs her own coaching business, Next Level Racing, through which she helps to guide athletes on mental performance and formulate training plans.

When asked how she and her husband have handled the challenges of family life, work, and training, Heiny told Today’s Catholic: “I’m able to be with Vincent most of the day and a couple of evenings a week. Nick will be with him or put him to bed while I coach. But balancing is a team effort between us. It takes coordinating our schedules and a lot of planning. We have a running stroller, so I take Vincent on some shorter runs, and the gym that we’re part of has the option for child care for a couple of hours a day. So, I’m able to get in what I need to train, without compromising, within reason. And Nick has a few days a week where he’s able to work remotely, so it’s a big team effort and a lot of calendar planning.”

Photos provided by Anna (Rohrer) Heiny
Anna (Rohrer) Heiny poses with her husband, Nick, and their son, following her victory in the Fort4Fitness Half Marathon on Saturday, September 27. Heiny placed first among all female runners, setting a new course record – and did so while 22 weeks pregnant.

She added, “Nick knows running is important to me and a gift God has given me to be able to run in the way that I do, even still at this point.”

Heiny also shared about the intersection of Catholicism with her training, saying that “running has been an avenue for me to strengthen my faith in a lot of ways; that was a big reason why I wanted to go to Notre Dame. Running and faith life go very much hand in hand for me, and there are seasons when God wants me to be racing well, and there are seasons when I have to be patient and learn how to persevere and surrender to God’s will when things aren’t going well.”

She continued: “I used to say the Rosary a lot while running, but now it is more mental prayer in general because I have a long list of people or things I’m praying about on a regular basis. Depending on how long or how fast I’m running, it’s not always conducive to being able to pray a Rosary. But, when it’s a long race, praying a Rosary helps a lot, as the repetition helps keep your mind focused.”

She further shared that Our Lady is a special family patron, as she and Nick visited Fatima before their wedding in 2022, and they have had prayers answered through her intercession. In 2024, following her second Mini Marathon victory in Indianapolis, they traveled to Lourdes, where she was able to enter the healing baths and have water poured over her son in the womb.

In addition to St. Vincent de Paul, her son’s namesake, she shared that St. Paul is an inspiration as well. “A lot of his letters really hit home for athletes,” Heiny said. “The stories of his journey and conversion I’ve read over and over and over.”

Nick shared that her favorite quote from St. Paul comes from 1 Corinthians 9:24: “Do you not know that in a race all the runners compete, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it.”

Heiny said she looks forward to continuing her training and consulting business as their family prepares to move to Fort Wayne. She also plans to continue working toward her goal of qualifying for the Olympic trials in the upcoming years. More info can be found on her website, next-level-racing.com.