Solana came up with the idea of running every day in November. She was looking for some motivation to keep her going as she was training for a 50 mile race. The challenge was to run at least 3K every day. Nikki came up with the idea of calling it #beaststreak.

The ULTRA mailing list also came up with the idea of Running Every Day For A Month (RED FAM). I’m always way behind on the list posts so I didn’t see the November 1st “signup” for the RED FAM until it was far to late to join in. The justification for this challenge was similar; the original poster wanted motivation to get back in shape.

Anyone who follows the ULTRA list, reads ULTRARunning magazine or follows the more fringe elements of ultrarunning (Barkley Marathons, Last Annual Vol State, Big Dog Backyard Ultra, etc.) will know of one Lazarus Lake (aka Gary Cantrell). He piped up with some words of wisdom on the topic.

i figure i am well on the north side of 100,000 miles in my career.
hell, 47 years x 2000 miles is 94,000 miles,
and i had at least 15 years over 3000 miles.
several very close to 4,000.

i wonder how many hours that translates to?
however many, it hasn’t been enough.
it has been a hell of a good time.

there are those who claim that such treatment of my body amounts to abuse.
that all those miles will destroy my joints (you just need to roll them tighter)

but when i see the other people my age,
people who keep vowing to “get back in shape”
and i see how little they can do
and the condition they are in…

i am sure glad i have lived my life the way i have.

yes, absolutely RED.
but not because you have to.

do it because it is fun.

I completely agree with Laz. We have enough things in our life that we do because we have to. While there are many benefits to running as an activity, it is something that most of us do in our leisure time. If you don’t enjoy it, I think you should find a way to spend your free time doing something that you do enjoy.

For me, the run every day challenge has got me out the door a few times when I was quite happy to sit on the couch. However, once I was up and running, I was glad to be doing it. In some perverse way, I even enjoyed the Half Marathon on the treadmill. I should thank Solana for coming up with the idea and doing the organizing (even if I helped over-complicate her simple spreadsheet).