Fifty Years of Running Every Day For Ron Hill

Congrats to Ron Hill for completing 18,262 days of running every day!  I had the pleasure of meeting him twice.  Both times with a beer in his hand.  Both times after finishing the Maryland Marathon that started at Baltimore's old Memorial Stadium.  The real race with Satyr Hill at the 20-Mile mark!  I ran a 2:4? or so Marathon my Senior Year in high school.  He was already on his fourth beer when I shook his hand right after my finish.  Bill Rodgers stood nearby gingerly sipping a Lite beer after his victory.  Good times,  good times...

From Mark Washburne of  The United States Running Streak Association:

Congratulations to Dr. Ron Hill, 76, from Hyde, England in the United Kingdom, who today (20 December 2014) completed 50 years of running every day without missing a day. In other measures of time, his half a century of daily running amounts to 18,262 days or 2,608 weeks (plus 6 days) or 600 months. Started on 21 December 1964, Dr. Hill has the longest running streak in the world as listed by Streak Runners International (SRI) and the United States Running Streak Association (USRSA). 

Besides possessing the longest known running streak in the world, Ron Hill is a three time Olympian. In the Tokyo Olympics of 1964, Dr. Hill placed 18th in the 10,000 meters, in a time of 29:53, and 19th in the marathon, in a time of 2:25:34. In the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, he placed 7th in the 10,000 meters and ironically ran the same time (29:53) as he had run four years earlier in Tokyo. Dr. Hill's final Olympic games was in Munich in 1972, where he placed 6th in the marathon in a time of 2:16:30 at the age of 33.

During Ron Hill's illustrious running career, he set world records for 10 miles (47:02, Leicester, England, April 1968; 46:44, Leicester, England, November 1968), 15 miles (72:48.2, Bolton, England, July 1965), 25 kilometers (75:22.6, Bolton, England, July 1965), and the 26.2 miles marathon (2:09:28, Edinburgh, Scotland, July 1970).

Ron Hill was also the second athlete to break 2:10 in the marathon. In 1970, Dr. Hill ran a personal best of 2:09:28 at the Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, Scotland. At that point, the only faster marathon time was run by Australian Derek Clayton, who clocked a 2:08:33 in Antwerp, Belgium in May 1969. The Antwerp course, however, was suspected of being short by possibly 500 meters. "The course was measured using five cars and was never able to be remeasured," noted Dr. Hill in a 16 December 2014 email to SRI/USRSA. "The Belgians refused to answer any queries about the course." In July 2009, the Association of Road Racing Statisticians rejected the record set by the Derek Clayton at Antwerp for the course being short and now lists Dr. Hill's 2:09:28 as the world fastest marathon at the time it was set in 1970. 

Ron Hill also set a course record for the Boston Marathon. In 1970, he was the victor of the 74th edition of that race in a time of 2:10:30. His 1970 win eclipsed the old Boston Marathon course record set the year before by more than 3 minutes. Ron Hill also won gold medals for the marathon at the European Championships in Athens, Greece in 1969 and, as mentioned before, the Commonwealth Games in Scotland in 1970. During his lifetime, Dr. Hill finished 115 marathons, where he ran 112 of them in under 2:50, 103 in under 2:45, and 29 in under 2:20. His final marathon was the 100th running for the Boston Marathon in 1996, where he completed the historic course in a time of 3:12:46 at the age of 57.

Dr. Hill graduated with a Ph.D. in textile chemistry in 1964 from Manchester University. In 1970, he started Ron Hill Sports, "which pioneered various products including wrap-over shorts, mesh vests, waterproof running jackets and reflective strips." He sold the company in the early 1990s and has since started Hilly Clothing specializing in technical socks and other apparel. Ron Hill was also President of the Road Runners Club from 1987 to 1988.

In a recent statement to SRI/USRSA, Dr. Hill said he has no plans to stop his daily running at 50 years. "I'm ticking along at around 25 miles a week with no intention to stop when I reach 50 years," noted Dr. Hill in an email to SRI/USRSA in November 2014. "I'm the same weight I was when I was 20 years old and I find the mental and physical benefits are tremendous."

We here at SRI/USRSA wish Dr. Ron Hill continued success with his running and his now half century year old running streak.

For more information on SRI/USRSA, please visit our website at: http://www.runeveryday.com/