Paul Ladniak
Seattle, Washington
DOB: 2-26-1946
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I began running in 1961 as part of the Abington High School Track
Team in Abington, Pennasylvania. I ran the mile and was fairly decent
at it as a sophomore. In the Fall of 1962, I jointed the cross country
team and was part of a group of seven runners who won the Suburban I
Championships for the next 2 years. I continued my track running career
for the next 2 years also and was on 2 state championship teams in 1963
and 1964. I continued running as a collegiate athlete running for the
University of Tennessee in both cross country and track from 1964 until
1968. I earned a varsity letter in cross country and track in 1966 and
was part of SEC Championship Teams that won 12 championships in a row in
cross country and track. After graduating from the University of
Tennessee, I began a teaching career and did not run for 2 years from
1969 until 1971.
In 1972, as part of a New Years Resolution I began running 4 to 5
days a week and rounded in decent shape. I entered 5k foot race in
Seattle on Veterans Day in November of 1972 and won the race. From
November 11, 1972 until February 14, 1996, I did not miss a day of
running. This was 24 years, 2 months and 14 days of running; this
streak ended because I contracted pneumonia, spent a day in the hospital
and did not fully recover unitl 3 weeks later. It took another 3 weeks
before I could actually run and complete the 5k course I had run on
Veterans Day in 1972. I have continued to run since 1996 after
recovering from pneumonia, but have to take a day off during the week,
so I have continued to run 5-6 days a week without trying for any
continuous running streaks.
As of today, February 29, 2012, I have run 201,000 miles. I have
kept running logs of daily mileage since 1961 and have been amazed to
look back over the years and see years in the late 70's and early 80's
when I ran 5,000 mile or more in a year. For 2011, I logged in 1320
miles and hope to keep going in 2012.