“Streak Runner” Trains For Mini Marathon
Story by Jay Stehr
INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – You might call him “obsessive,” but he would disagree. Jay Eiteljorge is a runner. A consistent runner. So consistent that he has run at least a mile a day for more than 1230 days.
He’s a member of the United States Streak Runners Association, a group made up of people who have run at least a mile a day for at least a year. If you do the math, Jay’s has been pounding the pavement each day for more than three-and-a-half years…. and is still going. “They call it an addiction, but I think of ‘addiction’ as a bad thing”, he said, “I run to stay healthy, to be active.”
His non-addiction to running began with the 1997 500 Festival Mini Marathon. He ran it with a friend, and figured he would pick up his medal and go home. Today, he’s still collecting medals, which he displays on the wall of his Fishers home. He has run in just about all of the local races of consequence, and in races as far away as Las Vegas, St. Louis, and Orlando.
Jay uses the races for motivation. The training runs are part of his daily routine. He gets up early in the morning, slips on his shoes and goes through rain or snow, wind of calm, sickness and health. A doctor diagnosed him last year with two strains of flu — at the same time. He missed a few days of work, but still went out to do his runs. When he has been out of town on vacations, or business, he has run through forests, in deserts, and on the beach.
Now, you might think that, with so much training, he might win a race here and there. That’s not his goal. Sure, he wants to improve on his times, but it’s not an obsession. For him, it’s about friendship and his fellow runners: “I usually meet up with some friends down there and everybody has different goals, different times they want to meet”, he said, “they support me, I’ll support them.”
He has also used his running to support others, outside of himself and his fellow runners. Through soliciting donations, he raised $500 to donate to the Hamilton County Humane Society in honor of a neighbor and friend who passed away from cancer.
He is raising money for the Wounded Warrior Project. In this year’s Chicago Marathon, (Oct 8, 2017) and the Monumental Marathon (Nov. 4th).
That’s for his friends who have served and been injured. He says he sees it as an opportunity to honor the sacrifices of others..
Of all the races that he has been in, and plans to be in, the big one is always on the first weekend in May, the One America 500 Festival Mini-marathon .