Ron Hill, a three-time British Olympian, ended the longest recorded streak of consecutive days running at least one mile on Sunday.
Hill, 78, had run 19,032 consecutive days, or every day since Dec. 21, 1964, according to the United States Running Streak Association.
“The worlds greatest run streaker ends his streak. Due to ill health Ron has decided to take a day off,” was posted on Hill’s social media pages.
“After 400m my heart started to hurt, and by the time I got to the one-mile point I thought I was going to die,” Hill said, according to the BBC. “I was in such pain, and I thought, ‘No, hang on, this isn’t going anywhere at the moment,’ and really in respect of my wife, two sons and friends, I need to stop this.”
Hill began his streak two months after competing at his first Olympics in Tokyo in 1964. He had a top Olympic finish of sixth in the Munich 1972 Marathon famously won by American Frank Shorter. Hill also won the 1970 Boston Marathon.
In 1993, Hill had two setbacks that nearly ended his streak. He broke his sternum crashing his car and later had bunion surgery, according to reports.
“My son picked me up from hospital the next morning, drove me to a track, and I did one mile using walking sticks [canes], not crutches, which go under the arm pits,” Hill said, according to the Runner’s World. “I was able to abandon these after seven days but still ran a mile a day in a plaster cast.”
The new longest streak of consecutive days running is held by Jon Sutherland, who is at 17,419 days. Sutherland, 66 and of California, has run every day since May 26, 1969.
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