Last week my run club hosted a “Boston Marathon” on the day it would have been run. I was told over 25 of us showed up to run it (solo) and afterward some of us gathered on the run studio’s lawn to enjoy treats and socially-distanced conversation.

Among them was Mike, a strong, dedicated runner in our club. While we talked he mentioned that over the past week he’d run every day and totaled over 110 miles. “It was hard,” he admitted.

“Well,” I said, “now that you’ve done that, maybe I can talk you into trying the whole distance at one go.” At that he laughed and said he had no intention of  joining me in an ultra.

Okay, I get it. Maybe a hundred miles in one day is a hard sell, even to diehard runners. Even I still don’t know why I do them. Years ago I began to run regularly, and after a while it became enjoyable, and a run became something to look forward to. And it’s become fun and fulfilling at distances that boggles even my own twisted mind.

That said, running is not something I do every day. “Run streaking” is not part of my training or vocabulary (*). The longest consecutive days I’ve run stands at ten, which my daughter Rachel has already shattered this year. And I was happy to let her win that particular competition.

Until now.

You see, the pandemic has created opportunities to get your running freak on, even if there are no public races until further notice. There are virtual races a-plenty, and RF Events, the company that is normally putting on races like the Martian Invasion and Hightail to Ale, is joining in the fun.

This event invites runners to run at least one mile every day in May, the payoff being that at the end, you’ve run at least 31 miles, which to trail runners is very familiar as “the 50K.” So there you go: an ultramarathon. So it took you a month? No big deal.

Given that the two 50K races I had scheduled for March were cancelled, how can I pass up a challenge like this? So I signed up my wife, too. I’ll run the mile, and she’ll walk. Or we’ll both walk. Either way, we’ll get in our 62 combined miles!

If you’re interested in joining the challenge, just go to the signup page at this link. It’s Pay What You Can, so whatever you can afford. Hope to see you out there! (At an appropriate distance, of course. Or just post on Facebook.)

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(*) With the Natural event at Run Woodstock the exception. Feel free to search my blog for related stories, such as The Naked Truth and A Beer for Brian.