The Jersey Spartan AC veteran, who embarked on a personal challenge in March 2018 after coming across similar attempts on a running streak Facebook page, reached that four-figure landmark last Sunday – with a grand total of 5,509 miles behind him.
The 63-year-old admitted he did not originally intend to run for 1,000 consecutive days, but with each milestone passed he just kept on going.
‘I think you have to be a bit left-of-centre to do something like that,’ he said.
‘First I got to 100 days, then it was a year. After that I thought I may as well keep going until 500 and then some friends suggested I see if I could reach 1,000.
‘Some even suggested to keep going but I decided enough was enough and had my first day off in 1,000 days on Monday. The following day I was back out training the Spartan juniors.’
Each day Woodsford – often joined by friends and also JSAC members on club nights – would run a different distance, ranging from one mile to 12 miles, depending on his motivation at the time. However, he says he also had to take his age into account.
‘It is harder as you get older … everyone seems to be getting quicker and fitter apart from me,’ he said.
‘Some days were more difficult than others and it really highlighted the importance of stretching, especially when I was running longer distances.’
The long-serving Spartan member and coach said he used his two hours’ exercise time during lockdown to get out and go running, with the challenge acting as a form of relief.
‘It has been a difficult year for everyone and so the challenge was a fun way to keep active,’ he said.
‘Running has been such an integral part of my life and I think any form of exercise outside in the fresh air is so important, especially during these uncertain times.’
He added: ‘A lot of people have been getting back into it and it is nice to see everyone making the most of the fresh air.’
