Sandia running ‘streaker’ hasn’t missed a day in more than 12 years

Every day for 12 and a half years, Brian Johnson, a mechanical engineer at Sandia, has run at least one mile.

He’s a streaker — a running streaker, that is — an official designation according to Streak Runners International, Inc., which defines a streaker as someone who runs at least one mile every calendar day.

At Sandia, Brian is a mechanical engineer supporting the W76 modernization program. It’s deadline-driven work that requires dedication, commitment and the ability to adapt quickly, which he says isn’t so different than running.

“Running has taught me to be flexible,” Brian said. “I might have a goal for a specific day, but something comes up and I have to pivot. That flexibility is required at work too. The endurance you build up running translates to endurance at work — wanting to finish something before you leave. It’s flexibility and compromise, but always keeping that big picture in mind, whether it’s work or a run.”

Brian started his current streak in March 2014, two months shy of his 49th birthday, freshly retired from the Navy and coping with the loss of his father, who died the year before.

“I had a couple of false starts before, while in the Navy,” Brian said. “I’d tell myself I was going to run every day hoping it’d help me condition for the semiannual fitness test.”

But one thing or another would happen — an injury, or less-than-ideal running terrain — and Brian would get discouraged and the streak would end there.

This time for dad

Fast forward to 2014, Brian was looking for work and getting ready to mark one year since his father’s death.

“When I was attempting my first streak, my dad would tell me that he was vicariously running through me,” Brian said. “So as that first year without him came to a close, I decided to give a streak another chance and just see what happened. This time it was for Dad.”

At the time, Brian wasn’t working, so he had the time to commit. But growing frustrated in his job search, he said, “I wanted to prove to myself and the world that I wasn’t washed up, that I’m still dedicated and committed to setting and accomplishing goals.”

Brian started with three miles a day, then upped it a mile each week until he was running around six miles every day. Then one of those things happened again — this time a calf strain — but instead of giving up, Brian scaled back his mileage and kept going.

“I learned pretty quickly that for this to work, I had to listen to my body,” Brian said. “After the calf strain, I pulled it back to just one mile every day for the next week, and after that, the pain was gone and has never bothered me again.”

While determination has been an important factor in Brian’s current streak, just as important, he said, is flexibility.

Indoor track

Early on in his streak, Brian set a goal to run not just one mile each day, but 100 miles a month, and he’s been able to maintain that for more than 150 months now.

“It’s helped to break it up in manageable chunks,” Brian said. “I’m running about 25 miles per week with a mix of longer and shorter runs.”

To do this, he’s had to run in some less-than-traditional places and circumstances.

“I’ve run in negative-18-degree wind chill in Missouri, in the parking lot of a hotel, on the flight deck of a Navy ship in the Red Sea, in a tailor-made business suit and dress shoes when the airline lost my luggage and I had an overnight layover in Salt Lake City,” Brian said.

But maybe the least conventional course has been the one inside his own home — no treadmill required, just some good company.

“My son, Evan, started running with me when he was in kindergarten,” Brian said. “I like to run outside, rain or shine, but he doesn’t always feel that way. So, we bought a measuring wheel and turns out 38 laps inside our home is exactly one mile.”

Today Evan is in middle school and has been on his own running streak since March 2020. Until a couple years ago, he had run all his miles with dad, but these days he’s also running on his own at school or using the home course.

Brian prefers to run outside, but when the weather’s not right or he needs to get a short run in, he joins his son inside their home, running through the main entrance, into the formal dining room, TV room, kitchen, around the island and back to the main entrance. 38 times.

Father and son

This all started as a way for Brian to pay tribute to his father, who unbeknownst to him, had been quite a track star in his youth.

“At my dad’s funeral my uncle told me my dad had set his high school’s record for the half mile,” Brian said. “I had no idea he had ever been a runner but turns out he set a record that would hold steady for nearly a decade.”

Brian never got to run with his dad. But in his 12-and-a-half years as a streaker, he’s cultivated a community within his personal and professional network of other runners, some of them fellow streakers, others hobby joggers, Olympic qualifiers, work friends and friend friends. Together they’ve run miles in marathons and relays through the Rio Grande Bosque and around Hardin Field. Most important to Brian are the miles he’s been able to run with Evan.

“I know my dad was proud of me for even attempting that first streak,” Brian said. “I think he’d be proud of me now. I know I’m proud of Evan and his commitment, and I’m grateful that while my dad was only ever able to vicariously run through me, I get to run with my own son, even if it’s just inside the house.”