From skipped laps to run streaking

Kieran Smith, 42, from Edinburgh

‘Sometime between leaving primary school and my early years at secondary school, I lost all of my enthusiasm for playing sport and certainly for running. This was summed up by the school cross-country, where there was a hollow holly tree on the course, which we would duck into on the first lap. We would then jump out on the final lap, often coughing away, faking an asthma attack, when it was usually caused by smoking a crafty fag.

I guess that during my teens, there were other distractions – smoking, drinking and messing about – which weren’t very conducive to running. Running felt hard and, at that stage, you were just running and not getting to the point where it actually became an enjoyable thing to do.

Although I played some tennis and squash in my twenties, I didn’t start running again until about eight years ago, in my mid-thirties. I was asked by some friends to take part in the Hairy Haggis, the team relay part of the Edinburgh Marathon. I didn’t really enjoy it and although I did the odd half marathon in the years that followed, I still wasn’t that into it.

But during the pandemic, I was made redundant from my job in the hotel industry. It gave me lots of free time to walk and run, during which I used to think about what I wanted to do.

In this period, I decided to do the annual Marcothon in 2020. It’s a challenge of running for 25 minutes or 5km – whichever comes first – every day during December. It’s a big commitment, but it also feels special running on Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve and throughout what is usually such a busy time of year. I found it really satisfying and after that December, I decided to keep running every day. I soon hit milestones of running for another whole month, six months, one year and so on, and have now clocked over 578 consecutive days of running. Compared with some other runners, my running streak is quite modest, but I’m still very proud of getting out every day, whatever the weather and however busy I may be. In a slightly boastful way, I like telling people that I run every single day.

Although I always do at least 5km, I try to do various routes so that every day is different. For example, I can go along the coast at Leith, through the city centre or climb Arthur’s Seat [the well-known hill in Edinburgh]. And that means I never get bored.

Running every day has kept me balanced and clear-headed when setting up my new business. I’ve realised that running, just like everything else, can become a habit – and it’s now what I do. People often ask me when I think I’ll stop, and I reply that I hope I won’t have to; I’ll try to keep the streak going for as long as I possibly can.

I usually plan the night before for the next day’s run. Even when I go away, my running gear and trainers are the first things I pack.

We have three children and our youngest daughter, Tabitha, who is six, runs with me at parkrun, which is lovely. We just take as long as it takes and it’s something we enjoy doing together.

On reflection, I can see why the younger teenage me hated running, but it’s a complete contrast to me today. Now, I genuinely love heading out every single day.’

‘Running every day keeps me balanced and clear-headed’