- December 25, 2024
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John Tillman's wife, Kathryn, had signs and a T-shirt made up to celebrate his 40-year running streak. Courtesy photo
When John Tillman decided to run 40 years ago, he didn’t plan on breaking any records or establishing any streaks. He just said, “I’m going to run every day.”
And 14,614 days later, he is still running.
On March 4, the Palm Coast resident celebrated 40 years of running at least a mile without missing a day.
Tillman’s streak ranks 33rd in the nation and 35th internationally by Streak Runners International/United States Running Streak Association.
His wife, Kathryn, invited neighbors to help Tillman celebrate the milestone. She had a sign made up that says, “Run Everyday 40 Years,” with smaller signs that read, “# 35 in the world” and “# 33 in the USA.”
She also had a T-shirt made for him that reads, “Legend,” referring to the category he is listed under on the "Active Streak List" on the SRI/USRSA website.
He began the streak on March 5, 1982, when he was 33 years old.
“I weighed 205 pounds and not living a real good lifestyle. The next four months I dropped down to 170, and I felt healthy. The healthier I got, the more I enjoyed running.”
JOHN TILLMAN, on starting his running streak 40 years ago
“I weighed 205 pounds and not living a real good lifestyle,” he said. “The next four months I dropped down to 170, and I felt healthy. The healthier I got, the more I enjoyed running.”
He never decided he would run every day for 40 years, he said. His only goal was to not miss a day.
He said he has run in over 20 countries and a majority of the U.S. states.
“I used to travel a lot,” said Tillman, a former sales engineer, corporate executive and business owner.
Now 73, Tillman usually runs three or four miles a day.
The members’ motto of the streak runners’ organization is, “Through weather, injury, illness and life events, we run every day.”
Tillman said he has run through “just about everything you can imagine.”
He has run when he’s had the flu. He’s run at 1 or 2 a.m. when he’s had a flight that leaves at 5 in the morning. When it rains, he sometimes runs in a covered parking lot.
COVID-19 couldn’t stop him. He underwent monoclonal antibody treatment in January and felt better immediately. But he wound up back in the emergency room at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville with cellulitis, a skin infection, in his nose.
“They worried about it being so close to the brain. They wanted to admit me overnight,” he said. “I told them about my streak. They gave me a choice, run and come back or they’d release me. I came home that evening to (continue) my streak.”
Tillman is currently undergoing treatment for multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells. He says it affects his performance but not his incentive.
“The first thing I want to do every morning, as soon as my feet hit the ground, is I want to run,” he said.
