Today I pay tribute to a streak ended.

Yesterday my friend Adam was forced to end his 510 day running streak because of a sudden injury.

510 days!

Just to put that into perspective, as of yesterday my streak now stands at 140 days. Even if I were to do that 3 consecutive times, I would still be 90 days short. My streak stands at 20 weeks. Adam’s streak ended one day short of 73 weeks.

That’s a lot of running. That is endurance. That is commitment and dedication. That is strength.

***

What happened to Adam you may ask?

On Saturday Adam, while hiking the trails, he was forced to defend his family from a bear that tried to attack them. After bobbing and weaving away from the bear’s fierce claws, Adam punched it right in the nose. Stunned, the bear began to back off, but just for good measure Adam threw in a powerful side kick to the bear’s stomach.

The bear turned tail and ran for the hills. There was much rejoicing, that is until the adrenaline began to wear off. That was when Adam realized he had twisted his ankle with that final kick. His ankle began to swell and he feared the worst.

On Sunday, Adam valiantly attempted to run. After a mile (the official daily minimum) he was done…he would not run on Monday. He knew that although he had defeated the bear, the bear had broken his streak.

I would like to emphasize, the rumors that Adam twisted his ankle heading out his patio door are patently untrue and in all likelihood were invented and spread by the bear’s embarrassed family.

***

All joking aside, much respect to Adam and his 510 day streak. I look at that number with awe and respect. A lot of things can go wrong over the course of 510 days that prevent a person from continuing, and somehow, through it all, Adam always managed to get at least one run (and sometime two or three) in.

A pox on the bear and his family…and on patio doors too!