The Running Addiction Of Ron Hill

Do you know Ron Hill? Maybe you do from the sportswear manufacturer that is named after him. But there’s the athlete Ron Hill behind that name.

The 1938 born British long-distance runner had quite some success in the 60s. He won the European Marathon Championships in 1969, the Commonwealth Games marathon in 1970 and the Boston Marathon in the same year. Pretty nice right? But there’s this other thing that is so impressive about Ron Hill the runner.

Ron Hill in 1975

He didn’t just won some big races throughout his career and stopped running after his pro years were over. He kept on running for 19,032 days straight! Yep that’s over 52 years of running every bloody day. Until this week. Ron Hill announced that he needed to take a day off after decades of continues running due to health reasons:

The worlds greatest run streaker ends his streak. Due to ill health Ron has decided to take a day off.

Streak total : 52 years & 39 days pic.twitter.com/BrNjAT115g

— Ronhill (@Ronhill_UK) 30. Januar 2017

He stated in an interview that heart problems forced him to stop his last run. At age 78 it is not much of a surprise that eventually his incredible streak comes to an end. After all these years of being a role model and inspirations not only for runners but for everyone, we all hope Ron can get well soon and hit the road again for an occasional run.

The Ron Hill Way