The Streak

All running streaks come to an end.  Illness, injury, weather, travel, something always gets in the way  of getting out for a run.  I would have to go back through my running logs but I think the most days in a row I have ever strung together is around 120 days.  Right now I'm on a 46 day coronavirus induced streak.

So I was a little stunned Thursday morning to get a message from my old training partner, streak runner extraordinaire, Craig Davidson, that his epic 40 plus year streak had come to an end.  A nasty intestinal illness landed Craig in the hospital for four days and thus the streak that started on November 1, 1977 had come to an end.

I've written about Craig before.  He is probably the best known runner in the Phoenix area.  He's a fixture at the best running store in the Valley, a legendary store in its own right, Runner's Den. 

I moved to Phoenix for a job at the CBS station in 1987 and one of the first things I did at the suggestion of a co-worker was call Runner's Den in search of a long run group.  As fate would have it Craig answered the phone and immediately invited me to the Saturday morning, 7 a.m. long run that started in Scottsdale and looped around Mummy Mountain situated in Paradise Valley. 

First about that long run.  It is a 16 mile loop that at the time featured three water stops and one epic climb.  The first stop was at a tennis club, the second a spigot situated outside a wall of a home in the posh community.  The final stop was on a golf course and it featured an ice chest which at about 12 miles or more into the run was especially welcome on hot summer days.

I ran every one of those long runs except for two around that loop with Craig over the three years I lived in Phoenix.  He was an exceptional ultra marathoner at the time, one of the best in the nation.  He regularly logged 150 miles plus back in those days.  His day usually started with a pre-dawn 10 mile run and a post work 10 mile run.

One time Craig talked me into doing the long run an hour earlier than usual so we could go to an 8K race at another location in Scottsdale.  We did our a gentle 7:20 pace mile around the loop and headed to the race.  Craig, as usual, beat me by about a minute while I shocked myself by running a PR at the time of about 28 flat.

I only beat Craig once in my life.  It was at the St. George Marathon in 1990.  Craig had first taken me to St. George the year before and it was an incredible experience.  The following year I flew in from Kansas City and managed to catch him at around 16 miles and beat him by about four minutes. 

I've since run St. George two more times to help Craig celebrate running milestones and in both instances, Craig took me down. Those milestones by the way were his 100th and 150th marathons.  The last time in 2010 was the last marathon for me.  But Craig has kept running them.

I always thought an injury would stop the streak.  I saw him shuffle through a run at what could best be described a fast walk to keep the streak alive.  That was back in the mid-90's when I was on a work trip to Phoenix and as I recall he later found out that he had some sort of fracture going on in his back that managed to self heal. 

The best thing about Craig is just what an incredible person he is.  On those Mummy Mountain long runs he would always stay with a newcomer, no matter how fast, or how slow, he or she might be to make sure they knew the course.  He had a heart of gold and was a great running conversationalist. 

Craig informed me the streak is back on.  And that is a good thing indeed.