Last January I wrote about people who set some impressive goals for 2015.  These were people who planned to run every day or planned to bike over 75,000 miles during the year.  I wanted to check back to see if they actually achieved their goals.

First there was Robert Kraft, a 65-year-old songwriter from Miami.  Robert planned to run every day in 2015.  More correctly, he planned to keep running every day in 2015.  You see, Robert is a member of the US Running Streak Association and he has been running every day since January 1, 1975.  I went out to the US Running Streak Association web site and checked.  Robert made it through another year.  In case you are wondering, Jon Sutherland, a 65-year-old writer from California holds the top spot on the Running Streak leaderboard.  Jon has run every day since May 26,1969 – over 46 1/2 years!

Steve Abraham is an Englishman who had a goal of biking every day at least 200 miles.  In doing so, he hoped to bike a total of 80,000 miles in 2015 and break the record set in 1939 by Tommy Goodwin, another Englishman who biked every day for a year for a total of 75,065 miles.  Unfortunately, Steve had a collision with a drunk on a moped back in March and ended up with a broken ankle.  Although he tried to keep going on a recumbent trike, Steve had to stop biking and spend some time healing.

Steve got back on his bike on August 8 and he ended up biking 63,568.2 miles for the year.  But Steve still wants to set a 365-day cycling record so he also started a new attempt at the record.  (The Ultra Marathon Cycling Association rules allow him to also use the August 8 date as his start date for this new attempt.)   Sadly for Steve, on January 9, 2016 Kurt Seavogel finished his own 365-day cycling marathon and set a new record of 75,496.5 miles.  Steve is going to have to bike a bit harder to beat Kurt’s record.

I think Kurt’s achievement is just mind-boggling.  Kurt biked between 10 and 13.17 hours a day for a year.  He biked a total distance equivalent of 25 times across the US and more than 3 times around the world.  I hope he is taking a long rest now.

While I would never attempt a cycling record, I have thought about starting my own running streak.  It sounds like a good goal but I don’t think it is a Transverse Myelitis-friendly one.  I need a lot of rest after long runs.  I also don’t want a hobby that ends up feeling like a job.  That would take the joy out of it for me.  I am just going to keep doing my thing – running 3 days a week and getting in my strength training while watching what I eat.  That will help me achieve my next goal – a half marathon personal record (PR) in 2016.