Super Streak

How is that possible? That’s what we said when we first heard of David Todd’s feat of running at least 1 mile everyday for 38 years straight. There is so much stuff to get in the way – injuries, travel, weather, life. But with a little luck and a lot of determination, David Todd has made it happen. And not one of those runs was on a treadmill.

How did it start? The streak started when David was 27 years old, living in Charlotte, and between marriages. “I realized I had run every day for two months and decided to see how long I could keep it going.” Turns out he also organized 1100 streakers to run across UNC when he was in school there, so he had streaking in his blood.

What are some of the crazier conditions he’s run through? He’s run while traveling through Europe, during Hurricane Hugo, and after accidently stabbing a knife into his shin. “Sometimes it’s hard to get started, but once I get going, I feel pretty good.”

Any tricks of the trade? He’s on a low carb diet now, but that’s fairly recent. And some recent stretching but he didn’t stretch for years either. “I have an inversion table at the house that has really helped with my back pain.”

Were you training for races? “Not really. A few 10k’s here and there but nothing longer.” David did have great training partners. “I used to run with our golden retrievers.”

Anytime it didn’t look like the streak would continue? “There were a few times I was at a bar at 11:50 pm and realized I hadn’t run my mile yet so I had to leave the bar to get the mile in.”

David is roughly 20th on the list of US Running Streakers and has no plans to end his streak anytime soon. He’s only 65 years young so there really is no reason to.

Congrats Dave. What an amazing accomplishment.