When Boston-based Lisa Parcell gave birth to her first daughter in 2007, her husband, Timothy, was by her side for nearly every moment of the grueling 40-hour labor.
Except for the brief intermission he took to run two miles. Around the hospital parking lot. Barefoot.
Timothy, now 35, wasn’t preemptively shirking the responsibilities of fatherhood—he was running to maintain his run streak, which he’d started several months earlier.
Lisa, now also 35, wasn’t upset or even fazed by it. “He got back as soon as he could,” she said, unperturbed.
Nutrition - Weight Loss run streakers: i.e., people who run every single day—no matter what—for weeks, months, years and even decades.
Because life happens, streakers can’t stop to break stride. And that’s a fact that those close to them must embrace. (Or at least tolerate.)
We spoke with the loved ones of six different streakers to hear about the craziest things they’ve put up with for the sake of the streak—and how they stay sane in the process.
Published: Dec 7, 2017
Soon after the birth of his first daughter, Timothy broke his streak due to an ankle injury. After healing, he started a new streak, which he has maintained for the past ten years. The father of two logs an average of 4.5 miles a day, including the commute to and from his office.
“Some days I’ll look at him and say, ‘This would be a good day to stop the streak,’” said Lisa, who runs herself and has completed three marathons to date. “But he’s been doing it for so long that it’s already integrated into his life.”
Not even getting getting hit by a car—an injury that broke Timothy’s collarbone and partially punctured his lung—could stop the streak.
“I was heavily medicated and just released from the hospital when I went on my minimum two-mile loop,” said Timothy, who never uses a treadmill and has run in weather as cold as -30 degrees (wearing ski goggles so he could see through a blizzard) and as steamy as 103 degrees.
Although there are times when Lisa has been concerned for Timothy’s safety—like when he ran in the days following the Boston Marathon bombing while the rest of the city stayed on lockdown—”I would never try to convince him to stop because the damage of that would be worse than the actual running,” she said.
As for the impact that Timothy’s running has on their two daughters, ages 6 and 10, “it’s been so normal for them to grow up with this,” said Lisa. “While there are days when it’s not the most convenient for us, on the other hand I love our kids seeing his dedication. And I’ve never felt abandoned by his streaking.”
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Marissa Arnold’s dad, Josh Arnold, hadn't missed his daily run since he was a teenager. Until last month, when a broken toe—and strict doctor's orders—sidelined him for 15 days. “He was miserable,” said Marissa, 31. The 66-year-old father of three “cannot start his day until he’s had his run,” said Marissa. “It’s a defining quality.”
So naturally, he's back on his feet and has since started a new streak.
Growing up, Marissa and her two older brothers watched Josh run through Minnesota winters, forgoing the treadmill and battling subzero temperatures and ice storms to keep his streak alive. “He’d come back with frozen boogers on his face,” said Marissa.
Josh didn’t let illness stop him either. In fact, he staunchly believed that running was the cure for any ailment. “If we weren’t feeling well as kids, he’d tell us to just go for a run—that we’d feel better,” said Marissa. Josh’s steadfast dedication earned him a reputation around town. “He wore crazy fluorescents and short shorts,” remembered Marissa. “In school, people would say, ‘Oh your dad is that guy.’”
Naturally, Arnold family vacations to Florida, the Czech Republic, and elsewhere were planned with Josh’s running in mind.
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“No matter where you are in the country or the world, he is sure to tell you where all the public restrooms are located,” said Marissa, “because if you are running for over an hour you have to know that.”
I’ll see you at lunch is a common phrase that Marissa hears when vacationing with her dad. “His morning runs are just part of our schedule,” said Marissa. “We’re used to it and just plan other activities.”
As accepting as his family is of his running rituals, Marissa said there was—and still is—the occasional concern that he’ll take it too far. “We’ve all said things to him like, ‘Are you sure you need to run today?’” she said. “Why does he need to be going and running outside in the dead of winter or on a super hot day?” The comments, of course, fall on deaf ears.
All in all, Marissa said that Josh’s running has inspired—and unified—the family. Because of her dad’s commitment to running—however crazy it may be—she and her two brothers run nearly every single day.
“We don’t run together,” she said, “but it’s something that unites us.”
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Abby Blackert, 23, began run-streaking in June 2013 as a way to relieve stress while attending the Illinois Institute of Art–Chicago. In the 4.5 years since, she’s run—always outside, and a minimum of one mile every day—through a severe hamstring injury, fevers, eleven concurrent blisters on her feet, and in the dead of night before catching an early flight to Costa Rica.
But her most challenging obstacle? The polar vortex of winter 2014. Blackert was home for the holidays with her family in Mineral, Illinois, where despite pleas from her mother Jennifer Blackert, she was determined to run through the 50 mph winds, -40 degree wind-chill temperatures, and buckets of snow that dumped down sideways.
Jennifer decided that if she couldn’t stop her daughter, she would do all she could to make her runs as safe as possible. Abby told her the direction she was running and how far she planned to go. Jennifer set a timer on the microwave for 20 minutes and when it beeped, drove through the snowy morass to retrieve her.
“I saw a snow plow leave about five minutes after Abby started her run,” recalled Jennifer. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I hope the plow sees her.’” Luckily, the plow and Abby maintained a safe distance, and mom and daughter continued the run/pickup routine for the remainder of Abby’s time at home.
As worried as Jennifer sometimes feels about her daughter’s safety, she has learned to let go. “I’ve given up on saying ‘Don’t run today,’” she said. “My philosophy is that I cannot clip her wings—I have to just let her soar.”
What would it take to stop Abby’s streak at this point?
“Maybe if my legs were broken,” said Abby, who now lives in Encinitas, California, and works at the women’s athletic apparel company GRACEDBYGRIT. “But even if I was in the hospital, I’d still probably try to run.”
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Timothy Parcell once ran barefoot in a hospital parking lot to keep his run streak alive
Jodi Stilp is nearly 900 days into her streak. The 43-year-old mother of four in Newberg, Oregon, began streaking in July 2015 and in the two years since has logged more than 6,000 miles, averaging 6.2 miles a day. Stilp, who owns her own photography business, always runs outside and logs a minimum of one mile per run.
The streaking began when her husband, Curt Stilp, 42, was in grad school getting his doctorate. “It was a stabilizing force when every minute of your day is structured and you’re going 100 miles an hour,” said Jodi, who typically runs in the mornings after seeing her kids—ages 11, 13, 15, and 16—off to school.
“I see how it has helped her stay sane mentally and manage her business and the kids,” agreed Curt.
That doesn’t mean it’s always easy—or convenient—to squeeze in a run. Curt recalls a time the family went camping in Oregon and Jodi ran around a nearby lake fifteen times to get in her daily mile. Or when she snuck out of her 16-year-old son’s water polo tournament in California to run laps around the high school building. Or the nighttime graduation party she and Curt left early after realizing, in a panic, that Jodi had yet to log her run for the day.
Although Jodi’s goal is to make it to 1,000 days of streaking, she, unlike the typical streaker, sees a day in the not-so-distant future when she may call it quits.
“I’m not willing to sacrifice my health and future years for something that is significant to me but to nobody else,” said Jodi, who’s been nursing a lingering knee injury for the past few months.
“I’ve never told her ‘I don’t think you should run’,” said Curt, “But I have advised her on many occasions to scale back her mileage because it does takes a toll.”
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Abby Blackert began streaking as a 19-year-old college student in Chicago
Denver-based Malinda Morain, 37, began run-streaking in November 2012 as part of the #RWRunStreak. Once 2013 rolled around, she simply kept going.
She recalled a wintertime trip to Washington D.C. when she thought she packed her running shoes—but instead pulled out a pair of TOMS slip-ons. So she ran on them for several miles—in the snow.
“I have no idea what drives her,” said Malinda’s younger sister, Stephanie Morain, 32. Stephanie remembered a bike trip to Canada where Malinda woke up “stupid early” every morning to pound out a couple miles before the sisters tackled 60-mile days on their bikes. There was also the time when Malinda visited Stephanie in Boston during a blizzard, and despite Stephanie’s apartment building getting evacuated because of a fire—and then a flood—Malinda still managed to squeeze in a run.
Even though she doesn’t fully understand it, Stephanie said Malinda’s streaking inspired her to start running herself. She ran day one—and day 1,000—alongside Malinda, and trained on her own in between.
Through it all, has she ever worried about her big sister’s safety?
No, said Stephanie. “She’s just really gritty and tough as nails.”
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Chicago-based Eric DiPietro began streaking in 2014, and in the 3.5 years since, has run through sinus infections, intense hamstring pain and a weeklong cruise in the Caribbean where he jogged around the boat deck. He met his girlfriend of nine months, Amanda Bernstrauch, at a race in New Orleans. One of their first dates involved grabbing beer at a local Chicago bar to celebrate the 1,000th day of DiPietro's streaking.
“Sometimes I think he’s crazy,” said Bernstrauch, 32, recalling the time that, despite intense soreness, he insisted on running the day after a 50-mile race. “But I like to think that if he was really hurting, he would be smart enough to stop.”
DiPietro has a different perspective. “There’s nothing I can think of that would stop me at this point,” he said.
In the end, the couple’s shared obstinence keep them together.
“It makes me really proud that he has really stuck to this,” said Bernstrauch. “He’s stubborn, but I’m stubborn too so it works out.”
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Jenny is a Boulder, Colorado-based health and fitness journalist. She’s been freelancing for Runner’s World since 2015 and especially loves to write human interest profiles, in-depth service pieces and stories that explore the intersection of exercise and mental health. Her work has also been published by SELF, Men’s Journal, and Amazing Reasons You Should Run Streak Right Now, among other outlets. When she’s not running or writing, Jenny enjoys coaching youth swimming, rereading Harry Potter, and buying too many houseplants.
