(Newser) – Last Saturday, Ron Hill took a break for the first time in 19,032 days, the Telegraph reports. According to the BBC, the 78-year-old had run at least a mile every day since Dec. 20, 1964—a streak of 52 years and 39 days. Hill kept the streak alive while competing in multiple Olympics. He kept running despite having a plaster cast on his foot for six weeks following an operation. The streak even survived a car crash that broke Hill's sternum (he got the day's run in before the crash), the Guardian reports. Overall, Hill ran more than 160,000 miles—more than enough to circle the globe six times.

But during his daily run Jan. 28, Hill started feeling a pain in his chest. "I thought I was going to die," he tells the BBC. He still managed to finish his mile, but he realized it was time to hang up his running shoes—at least for now—for the sake of his family and friends. In a statement, he said he was ending his streak "with great sadness." In addition to his truly impressive streak, Hill competed in three Olympics, was the first British citizen to win the Boston Marathon, set multiple world records, ran in at least 115 marathons, and started his own running gear company. (Read more running stories.)

