How to check programatically if thread is running

I need to check if the created thread is running or not C++. I am using pthread library. I can use pthread_join(), but this is a blocking call. It does not support with timeout. Is there any other way to check if thread is running or not. In other words is there any pthread function which is similar to pthread_join which can take timeout parameter.

Thanks in advance.

I have not programmed P-threads on Linux, but have written Windows threaded code. Does a C API process information call have thread information in it? I would have to believe the system portion of the C rtl would have this information in a call.

why not just fork() into a child process and call pthread_join from there? The parent function waits for a timeout period then kills the child if it has not returned.

I *think* that would work since the child inherits the parent's complete context...