The Case for Streaking

Increasingly, streaking has entered the Main Street Press lately. I'm not entirely sure why this is occurring, but recent articles in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal have portrayed the practice. There are numerous other examples as well. Previous to this, streakers have done their thing behind the scenes, not desiring any publicity. Some have practiced this bizarre ritual for 30 years or more. Alas, I have always been a dabbler in the art of streaking, much to my shame. It used to be easy, back in the day. Thin, energized and fast(er), it was never a problem adding another day of streaking to the tally. But then on Christmas Day 1978, it happened. Sick and feverish, I staggered 2 more miles in a blinding snowstorm at 10:00 PM (I really did this!) just to keep the streak alive. The next day I was comatose and incoherent with pneumonia and pleurisy. I still only missed two days of running and ran the NVTC Marathon several weeks later, and a sub 15:00 3-mile in REC HALL a week before that (twenty-three and two-third laps or whatever it was, hitting my elbows on all FOUR corners of every lap). My point being, that streakers are nuts and I am one of them. I'm a piker compared to the rest, but a practitioner nonetheless.

Streaking is defined as running at least 1 mile daily EVERY DAY. The run must start before midnight to count. And it doesn't count for the next day either! The most famous practitioner is Ron Hill from Wales. He has piled on many miles in over 40 years (approaching 155,000), without missing a day. He has run with a broken sternum following a traffic accident, a broken ankle, and following several knee surgeries to name just a few of the hiccups along the road. In America, Mark Covert of California leads the list, never running less than 3 miles any day in 40 years. There are 10 or 11 runners with streaks of more than 30 years right behind him in case something happens! The United States Running Streak Association keeps track of all these things. I have been too embarrassed to even enter my longest streaks, they are so pitiful. My best is 868 days and currently I have a streak of 550 or so, starting 4 weeks after my third knee surgery. Remember, all streakers are nuts, but not all nuts are streakers. (You could be just as nuts as I am!) Anyone have a longer streak out there? (You can comment anonymously!)