Which is more painful, giving birth, or racing a marathon?

Obviously we need some women on here who've done both, but I would suspect it'd be childbirth hands down.

One way to reason that childbirth is much more painful, is that while running a marathon, all discomfort is voluntary, so there's a threshold set by the body/mind. In childbirth, there is no limit set by the person. The trauma is coming no matter what and the mother just has to cope as much as she can.

I have run only 2 marathons and I didn't hurt in either one because I was well trained. Yes, I was tired in the last 10k but not in pain. I have given birth to 4 kids with NO medication or pain relief. Two were even born at home. No childbirth is the same. My first one was pretty bad mainly because I had back labor and I had NO idea how much pain I could go through and still live. My 2nd one hurt a lot but not as bad as the first. My 3rd was fast and furious and I had no relief between contractions, definitely my most painful. And my 4th was almost pain free, only some mild cramps and didn't realize how far along I was (I had been out jog/walking a 2 mile loop in the neighborhood). I ended up delivering my baby on the bathroom floor only 10 minutes after coming home. She was 9lbs and 22 inches long and, I guess God took pity on me because it did NOT hurt. So....my vote is that child birth is much more painful than a marathon when compared to my first 3 labor and deliveries. I remember running out at Kennesaw Mountain State Park during my first pregnancy and I would end a lot of my runs up this very steep hill to a parking lot. I told myself that this "pain" would prepare me for childbirth pain. Ha! Nothing can prepare you for that!

God didn't curse Eve to run a marathon, did He?

Giving birth is like really bad constipation, but eventually the poop comes out. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

A bad marathon seems like eternity.

this must be a dumb ape male who posted this

Oprah is a dyke wrote:

Giving birth is like really bad constipation, but eventually the poop comes out. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

A bad marathon seems like eternity.

Many times giving birth lasts a lot longer and if you look at pain I would say hands down giving birth is more painful.

Another way to look at it is look at how long it takes to recover. A marathon you can recover pretty well after a week. Pregnancy can take up to 6 weeks.

go to the grocery store, take a look at the 80 oz "tube" of all natural ground beef. now imagine if you will, that coming out of your a$$. then ask yourself "what is more painful?"

The only people qualified to answer this are women who have both run a marathon and given birth with no pain medication. All you guys have no idea what you are talking about with the pain of childbirth.

Childbirth can range from field workers taking an hour break to crank one out to days of agony culminating in death. The marathon can be casually Gallowalked, or on the other end might result in death, but generally is a more constrained, predictable window of effort/pain. Apples v. oranges. On the other hand, from talking with women who have done both, the marathon is about as close to childbirth as a man will typically get.

So, it sounds like the consensus is that childbirth (without pain meds) is more painful than a marathon. But a 50k probably tops them both...

Mind Runner:

Seems like at one time you mentioned you were like 5' tall and 95 pounds. How the hell does a 9 pound, 22 inch baby come out of you? I'd vote childbirth has to be much more painful than a marathon. I've had some bad, bad marathons but thinking about what you've described hurts to think about.

c) Racing 1000m, for a 800m runner.

Depends on whether it's the 1st or 4th.

Just watching my wife give birth was 10 times more painful than the 3:40 marathon I ran during an Ironman. Fortunately it was 100 times as rewarding.

I've run 34 marathons, 1 50K and have had one child. Hands down the childbirth was the most painful thing I've ever experienced. People tried to tell me since I ran marathons that childbirth would be easy, unfortunately that is not the case.

Skinny hips are good for running not for giving birth. Plus the aftermath of childbirth is much worse than the damage inflicted by a hard marathon or a 50K.

dirty qwerty:

lol She was 10 days late and I could feel baby in every part of my insides from front to back. If she had been my first I probably would have had a hard time but since she was number 4, my body knew what to do. I caught her head myself before my husband rushed in to help with the shoulders. She's as scrawny as me now. She's almost almost 7 and weighs only 36lbs. I promise I was in NO pain when I delivered her. In fact I was laughing because of how freaked out my husband was. It was an awesome birth!

I dare you to put on some running shorts and a singlet and visit a Leache League convention and go around interviewing the women there with this question. And insist to them that a marathon is more painful. Please video tape it and post on youtube.

I triple dog dare him!!! Do it, do it, do it...