This year, I told myself I wanted to run at least one mile every day for an entire year. I’d like to say I came up with the idea on my own, but that wouldn’t be true. Last fall I learned about Hellah Sidibe, alongside people like David Goggins and Tara Dower, Hellah is someone I consider a total badass. He has run every single day since May 15, 2017. Inspired by that streak, I decided that in 2025 I would try my own version. I’d run one mile every day.
Once January rolled around and the streak passed the early milestones, I started to realize that running every day was going to be harder than I had originally imagined. It wasn’t always inspiring or fun. Living in New England, and with my general dislike of treadmills, meant running through everything the seasons had to offer. Snow, rain, heat, cold, gray days, I ran through all of it. And every day, no matter what, I laced up my shoes and got in my mile.
After about sixty days, my legs started to feel heavy. The feeling of running every day began to set in. Life, of course, didn’t stop because I had to run. There were days when I didn’t want to do anything at all. Weeks where things felt messy and overwhelming. Nights when I found myself running at 11:30 p.m. after an eleven-hour drive. But the agreement I had made with myself was simple: lace up the shoes, run the mile. So I did.
Thankfully, not all of those days were hard. Many of them were genuinely fun. A lot of my runs were spent jamming to Tom Petty, Creedence Clearwater Revival, and countless other artists who made the miles fly by. Feeling the seasons slowly change sometimes day by day, became one of the most rewarding parts of the streak.
Running every day also opened the door to experiences I never would have had otherwise. I ran with people I hadn’t seen in years. I ran with people I had just met. One of the more memorable runs happened in September, while searching Hinge for my future wife. I met a girl who mentioned she liked running. Trying to impress her, I told her about my streak. So, for our first date we went and ran a mile together. The relationship never went past that first date, but it remains one of the most interesting first dates I’ve ever had.
In October, I traveled to Cleveland. Seeing they finally acknowledged Soundgarden as hall of fame worthy, I stopped by the Rock and Roll hall of fame, and eventually caught the Packers game with my Aunt and Uncle. As amazing as that weekend was, one of my highlights of that weekend was running in downtown Cleveland with my aunt. Running past the Indians and Cavaliers stadiums to keep a streak alive was incredibly cool and is a once in a lifetime opportunity.
Of course as a hiking and outdoors nerd, it was only a matter of time before trail running entered the picture. After watching Tara Dower crush the Long Trail fastest known time, I had to try it myself. This led to countless memorable trail runs on places like the Tully Loop and the Wapack Trail. As amazing as those trails are, two trails I did stood out to me this year.
The first was the Presidential Traverse in the White Mountains. This trail is 23 miles long and goes over the highest peaks in the White Mountains. To make it work, I had to get an early start and run up Eisenhower. The climb was exhausting, but watching the sun slowly rise made it worth every step. Another advantage of running this Traverse meant I beat the first train up Mount Washington. So when I summited I only had to wait a few minutes to get my picture. The only downside being that instead of getting a slice of pizza at the concession stand I had to settle for Sprite and candy.
A few weeks later, after a company outing, I drove from Fitchburg to Franconia. I stopped at a McDonald’s to get in my designated mile, then waited for nightfall before parking at Lincoln Woods. I slept in the luxurious Camry, woke up at 4 a.m., and set out on a 24-hour Pemi Loop attempt. Along the way, I caught an incredible sunrise from Mount Liberty and I ran over Franconia Ridge. I met two people on the trail, and together we finished the loop in just over thirteen hours. It became one of the highlights of my entire year.
During my thru-hikes of the Midstate Trail and the North–South Trail, the running streak followed me there too. That meant running through residential neighborhoods in the middle of the day with a backpack on, I had plenty of confused side-eyes. As awkward as it probably looked, I loved every mile.
There was also beauty in the struggle. After Thanksgiving, I got my first tattoo. Anyone with a tattoo knows the goal is to avoid sweat during healing, so for about a week my daily mile turned into a putter where I had to slow down the moment I felt my body begin to heat up.
Another winter run stands out clearly. I was running downtown, stuck deep in my own head, overthinking, analyzing, and being far too hard on myself. Suddenly, someone yelled out of a passing car, “Who’s going to carry the boats?” It snapped me right out of my thoughts and back into the run. I then spent the remainder of the run extremely proud.
Somewhere along the way, I realized that running every day, like most daily commitments, is a near-perfect analogy for life. There were days that felt bad, when things didn’t go as planned or didn’t go Jt’s way. And there were days that felt good, when everything seemed to click. But at the end of the day every day was neither good nor bad. They were just days. Just miles.
Running at noon on a quiet rail trail, listening to birds. Running late at night in the middle of a snow storm. None of it was inherently good or bad, it simply was.
That realization helped me finally understand a quote from one of my favorite philosophers, Alan Watts:
Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparison between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.
I guess sitting here at The end of the line I am proud of myself not because I did something particularly challenging or hard, I am proud that I showed up for myself. One mile and day at a time. I learned to keep going and not judge an event, person, or run as good or bad. But just take it for what it is and keep on moving forward.
Huffhike 