Streak Running - It's Not What You Think

NEEDHAM (CBS) – For many runners the Boston Marathon is the ultimate race.  But for a young man in Needham it's part of a multi-decade commitment.

"I always feel like it's part of my daily routine. You know how some people can't go without coffee in the morning? I can't go without a run in the morning," 18-year-old Patrick Caron told WBZ-TV.

Caron is fast.  His marathon pace is roughly 6 minute, 20 second miles. He's hoping to finish Boston in under 2 hours and 45 minutes. He runs every day and wins long distance races across the country. Recently, he took up ultras which are 50-mile road races.

So while Boston is a race he's always wanted to run, Caron is hoping to make it to the top of another elite list of runners - the U.S.A. Active Running Streak List. The "streak" simply means you must run at least one mile every day to stay on the list.

Caron started just about 5 years ago as a 13-year-old.

Bill Robertson of Ashland has been running every day for 39 years and a few months. He's run the Boston Marathon 17 times, and can't remember how many marathons he's completed in total.

"It's not that hard, people get up and eat every day, they sleep every day, as long as you're not too injured, you enjoy it and you're having fun," Robertson told WBZ.

Although he's pushed the limits on what it's like to run when you're injured.  He continued his streak through a dislocated shoulder.

"I could run fine as long as I locked my shoulder in and held on to the jacket and just sort of ran," Robertson said.

Robertson is 14th on the Official U.S.A. Active Running Streak List.  Caron is 331.

Caron knows passing the runners at the top of this list could take another 35 years, but after all he is a runner, and that means understanding these long term goals are all about the right mindset, and taking it one day at a time.