Whitefish Bay man celebrates running every day for 40 years

WHITEFISH BAY, Wis. - As we've seen with wearing Bucks garb, it can be kind of fun to build a streak.

In the case of a local runner, it can be kind of grueling at times as well.

On Monday night, that runner knew that persistence pays off.

"I love to run and believe me, if I didn't, I sure wouldn't be going every day for even a week let alone thirty years," said John Chandler.

John Chandler is the Whitefish Bay man who went out for a run in August of 1981. And then he went again the next day. And again the next day. And every single day since then.

"Because it sort of happened one day at a time, I don't really dwell on sort of the magnitudes," Chandler said.

There is some adrenaline rush there.

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"When they're talking dangerous wind chills, I beg to differ," said Chandler.

But let's be honest, when you face a minor stroke or a broken ankle or just plain lack of motivation, it couldn't have all been a blast.

"The ultimate first day that I don't go will just sort of be interesting," Chandler said. "Don't feel that much different but I didn't run today."

While Chandler sometimes runs with a group, he has put in a ton of solo miles on his journey. After all, running is a solitary pursuit.

And so that is why John Chandler's thirtieth anniversary is so noteworthy.

"He started the streak, I think, two months after I was born," said Chandler's daughter back in 2011.

Even though he's a family man, we're not talking about his wedding anniversary. Rather the night John Chandler reached thirty years of going for a run.

Without ever missing a single date.

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Chandler is just striding into a new decade. On Monday night at Whitefish Bay High School, friends and family joined him as they commemorated the streak reaching 40 years in a row and counting.

"Celebrating the anniversary of what I call the ‘Silly Streak,’ I have gone for a run 40 years, without missing a day," said Chandler. "That's 14,610 days."

FOX6's Tim Van Vooren: "People are going to say, really? He's run through rain and snow and sleet and cold, some of the weather we've had here in Wisconsin, you're outside, running every day?"

"The worst two dates were I believe it was '82 and '96 when the temperature hit 26 below on those days, plus the wind chill factor, of course," Chandler said. "And I think the record high I've run in is 103 degrees here in Milwaukee. Every now and then I sit back and think, wow, that's a lot of days."

Chandler led his group on a four-mile run Monday night, one mile for each decade.