IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser.

Son shares brutally honest recap of mom’s half marathon performance for show-and-tell

Ashley Desanno didn't have the runs during her most recent race, much to the disappointment of her son.
/ Source: TODAY

For one mom in Portland, simply finishing a half marathon wasn't enough to impress her son.

Ashley Desanno, a mom of two, has the internet laughing out loud thanks to a recent video shared to her TikTok community of more than a million.

"My son had to do weekend news. That's where you write about your weekend and how it went," Desanno, 42, said in the now-viral video about her younger son Durham's show-and-tell recap. "Sometimes there's a really cute little gem in there that's like 'I ate pizza with my mom' and it makes my heart happy.

"Well this week, you know what it said? My mom ran a half marathon. She did very well...for old people," Desanno shared of her son's brutal review.

But Durham, 9, wasn't finished with his weekend update.

"The bigger victory is she did not pee or poop her pants. That's what it said," Desanno said of Durham's weekend news.

The video, which as racked up nearly 250,000 views on TikTok and more than 15,000 likes, had moms nodding their heads.

"I can totally see my son writing something like this," one commenter wrote.

Another added, "He understands the struggle!"

Desanno told TODAY Parents that Durham is "the type of kid who doesn't use his folders," so when she stumbled upon his weekend recap paper in his backpack, she was eager to read it.

"I read it and was like 'Well, this is fantastic'," she said. "His teacher saw this, and he definitely read this to the people at his table."

Related: Meet the mom who just broke the American women’s marathon record

The Portland-based mom is no stranger to running races, having completed 11 marathons and “probably 50 half marathons” since she began racing in 2005.

“Did you fall over? Did you throw up? And did you go to the bathroom? After every race those are the questions they want to know,” Desanno said of her sons, adding they are typically unimpressed.

Desanno told TODAY her boys also know that going to the bathroom while running is normal.

"They know that every run I pee a little," she said. "Every woman who has had a vaginal birth is going to pee her pants, especially if you’re over 40. The second I come home from a run, I have to change my shorts and pants."

She also told TODAY that while driving in the car, both sons will point out port-o-potties to her.

"One of their favorite things to do is say, 'Hey mom remember that one is there!'" Desanno said.

The avid runner hopes her video normalizes for runners and moms that it's OK to talk about "the messy side of things."

"I think normalizing for your kids that life just happens and we keep going," she said. "Women are so hesitant to being really open about talking about things. Everybody poops and everybody cries and everybody has negative thoughts about themselves. It's important to normalize how hard it is."

Related: