According to a recent study cited by CNN, the pain of kidney stones is worse than childbirth. But it was going to take a lot more than kidney stones and an IV catheter to keep Baldwin Cross Country Coach Rich Wright from maintaining his streak of running at least one mile daily.
That hospitalization happened about six years into Wright’s running streak, and he kept the streak alive that day by briefly disconnecting the IV and running the hospital floor. That’s the kind of dedication that led to Wright hitting a huge milestone on December 18: running at least a mile for the 10,000th straight day.
Wright completed that run on the high school track, joined by countless current and former athletes whom he has coached over the years.
The streak began all the way back on Aug. 2, 1990, following a big scare. After an accident nearly took Wright’s life, he decided to begin running each day.
“I actually started the streak five days before my accident,” he said, but he had to stop due to injury. “When I recovered I didn’t want to be lazy so I decided to add running again to a part of my daily routine. I embraced the element of discipline and honesty that came along with the streak.”
What started out as a hobby quickly turned into an obsession. Wright became the 71st person currently alive to join the 10,000 day running club.
The closest Wright came to losing the streak was in 1996, when he had to deal with both the death of his father and a temperature of two degrees below zero.
“It was a tough time in my life, but I couldn’t let it stop me. I had my kids help me move furniture around my house to create a loop. I ended up running around the house for 20 minutes,” Wright said.
He also began another streak around the same time. He hasn’t missed a weekly church service in more than 27 years.
“I think the two streaks go together. God has blessed me with so many wonderful people in my life and allows me to do what I love every single day. I figured going to church was the best way to thank him,” Wright said.
Wright attributes his motivation after all these years to working with the student athletes and aiding their progression.
Senior Kevin Sheehan and his two older siblings both ran for Wright during the course of his career.
“Coach Wright is like a father to me. He developed me into the best person I could be on and off the track. Thanks to him I achieved goals that I didn’t think were possible,” Sheehan said.
As Wright reflects on the past three decades, he’s still has one more goal in mind before stopping.
“It would be pretty cool to make it into the top 50 (on the streak list), but all I can do is stick to my routine and run as long as I’m physically able,” Wright said. “As far as right now, though, I don’t see anything stopping me.”