Derry man Ronan O'Flaherty to mark 1000th day of running streak with Foyle Hospice fundraiser

Ronan O’Flaherty began his running streak on March 19 2020, almost 1000 days ago, when the Covid 19 pandemic first began. He wanted to make sure he got ‘out and about’ and kept busy during restrictions and decided to run at least 5k a day until lockdown ended.

Ronan, a software engineer, told the Journal: "Obviously, that was back when we thought lockdown was going to last a few weeks. It kept going and so did I. I was in Belfast at the time and through a redundancy, moved back home to Derry. I just kept on going and here we are, almost 1000 days later.”

As of December 6, Ronan has run 6,670 miles and does at least 5k per day. He’s a familiar face to many, who see him running in the city, particularly on the quay or Culmore Road.

Ronan’s 1000th consecutive day’s of running, without any days off, is on December 13. To mark the day, known as a ‘comma day’ in a running streak, Ronan will run 10k from the Foyle Hospice and hopes to raise funds while doing so. He will be joined on the day by fellow friends and runners from Foyle Valley Athletics club. Anyone who would like to join them would be very welcome.

Ronan has set up a donation page, which can be found at www.1000days.run