In an interview, he said........"It's taken a life of its own because you certainly don't start something like that expecting to run every day for 40 years. At the start, I counted 100 straight days and I thought that was kind of neat. I got to thinking ... 1,000? 10,000? But it was never to the point of doing this for 40 years."
For the 40 years, Gathje has been running more or less injury free despite running more than 110,000 miles and 14 marathons. "I've had three or four sprained ankles and that's not pleasant,'' he said. He's also had to deal with traveling, weather, work and the birth of his children. Like second oldest daughter, Sarah. "My wife's water broke at 6 in the morning and we got up and got dressed,'' Gathje said, "but she (Laurie) actually said, ‘maybe you should go out and run before we go to the hospital.' '' And then there was his youngest son, Dan, when he was born on one March snowy day. "A typical March blizzard,'' said Gathje. "We were in the hospital snowed in and couldn't travel. Luckily, I had my running shoes on, so I borrowed my wife's hat and mittens and went out and ran between the snow drifts along University Ave. in St. Paul.''
Gathje has run in close to 40 states and seven countries. He once ran in a Newark airport hotel when his flight was canceled. "Nothing in my control will stop the streak,'' he said. What Gathje does know is that he's not streaking for any glory. "It's a part of my life now,'' he said. "You get up in the morning and go run. Simple as that.''
The Irish person with the longest running streak is Denis McCarthy of East Cork AC. Denis has run every day since June 1985.
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