Profile--Mark Courtney has run 14,609 days in a row.

(Jan. 2019) On December 19, 2019, Mark Courtney completed his daily run for the 14,609th day in a row. That's 40 years with nary a day off. Courtney's impressive in many other ways. He has run 40 straight Boston Marathons, and has a marathon PR of 2:28:48 at Chicago. Now 63 and living in Grove City, PA, he continues to operate a road-race timing company--Runner's High. His running allows him to eat somewhat indiscriminately. "My diet includes beer and ice cream," he says. "Though rarely at the same time."

Career/Profession? I was a Physician Assistant for 34 years (Family Practice) - retired. Owner of Runner’s High, a road-race timing company since 1979,

PROFILE--Dave Walters has been running for 50 years

(Dec. 2019) Captain Dave Walters, 65,  has been running for 50 years and piloting United long-haul flights for 33 years. He flies internationally for two, six-day periods a month. It’s not unusual for him to pilot a 16-hour flight into Hong Kong,  then rise at 2:00 am and go for a run (time zones can be nasty). 

After winning his age group at the 2015 Chicago Marathon, Walters captained a flight to Brussels the next day. When he discovered that marathon champ Dickson Chumba was on board, he gave Chumba a cockpit tour and upgraded him to first class.

Walters ran his first marathon as a

Alan Ruben has run the last 32 NYC Marathons in a row

(Dec. 2019) Alan Ruben grew up in London, but has a long tenure in NYC running. He has finished 32 NYC Marathons in a row, and is a former president of the Central Park Track Club. As a youth, he played soccer for an hour every noon. He recalls that he wasn't very skilled, "but attempted to make up for that by running around more than anyone else." 

Ruben ran his first NYC Marathon in 1987, and met his future wife, Gordon Bakoulis (5 time qualifier for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials), in 1994. They were married two years later. When the two aren't racking up wins in Central Park, they're watching their childrens' soccer games. (So the kids, if they follow their dad's evolution, will be all right.)

Career? I work in computer programming for a money transfer software company.

When and why did you start running? I started running in the fall of 1982 inspired by the London Marathon. I knew one person who had run the London Marathon and

Chris Finill has run all 39 London Marathons

(Nov. 2019) England's Chris Finill has finished all 39 runnings of the London Marathon. He's also among a smattering of runners who have run a sub-3-hour marathon in five chronological decades--that is, the 1970s through the 2010s. Since next year launches a new decade, Finill will be aiming for his sixth, and has a reasonably good chance of achieving it. Still, he's only the second-best runner from his London street. Roger Bannister ranks first. In 2011, Finill ran across the U.S. with a buddy. (Feature-length documentary film here.) He turns 61 on New Year's Eve.

Career-profession? I qualified as a Charttered Accountant with Deloitte in 1986. For the last 20 years, I have worked as a Bursar at the Duke of Kent School in rural Surrey, England.

When did you start running and why? I was born on the street in North London where Roger Bannister

PROFILE--Lee Pollock has been running for 53 years

(Nov. 2019) Lee Pollock ran a 2:32 marathon in 1978, and a 2:57 in 2010. That makes him a member of the short list of runners with five decades of sub-3 marathon running. The college steeplechase star has spent most of his life in upstate New York, but he was also a Peace Corps volunteer in Nepal, where he and his family have recently helped to build a three-story school in a remote community.

Career/profession? After college, I did 2 1/2 years as a Peace Corps volunteer teaching math/science in Nepal (Asia).  Then lived in Boulder, CO doing various jobs that

PROFILE--Yolanda Holder has been powerwalking (lots of ) marathons for 21 years

(Nov. 2019) We usually don’t profile non-runners but Yolanda Holder, 61, is an exception that we think you'll understand. In 2010, she established a  Guinness record for most marathons in a calendar year, power walking a total of 106 marathons/ultras. (She finishes her marathons in less than five and a half hours.) In 2012, she broke her own record with 120. To date she’s power walked over 540 marathons and ultras.  

Holder is also known as the Walking Diva, and maintains a blog at YolandaHolder.com. She lives in Corona, CA, with her husband of 36 years, Rogelio. 

When did you start your power walking ways? I started power walking 20 years ago at the

PROFILE--Don Kardong has been running for 55 years

(Nov. 2019) Don Kardong should have won the bronze medal in the 1976 Olympic Marathon. He finished fourth that day in Montreal, but winner Waldemar Cierpinski is widely believed to have doped under the state-controlled East German system. No matter. Kardong is not one to cry over spilled milk. He quickly moved on, and had a profound influence over American road racing as director of the famed Bloomsday race in his hometown, Spokane, WA, and as an early advocate for professional road racing. For many years, Kardong, now 70, was also a feature writer at Runner's World magazine, treasured for his sense of humor. Surely you remember, "Without ice cream, there would be chaos and darkness"? And: "Runners like to train 100 miles a week because it's a round number, but I think 88 is a lot rounder."

Career/profession? I moved to Spokane in 1974 to take a job as a sixth grade classroom teacher. After three years I left to open a running store. I sold that