A2K Running Club

This Saugus resident has run every day for 27 years and wants to help you get started

Lenworth “Kip” Williamson knows a thing or two about running. The 57-year-old Saugus resident, who was on the track team in high school and college, has run outside every day since January 1, 1989.

Starting to run outdoors in January in Boston is a challenge enough. At first, he wanted to see if he could do it every day for a year. But he continued because there was always another milestone on the horizon.

“When I got to the end of a year, 500 days was within reach, so I went for 500,” Williamson said. “And then at the end of 500, two years was there. Then once I got to two years, the following year would get me to a thousand days.”

Now, having run over 10,000 days in a row, he has his eye on the 30-year mark, which is just 2.5 years away. We asked Williamson what advice for how to start a running routine. Below, he offers three tips on how to keep it up every day.

1. Get in the time you can manage

If you have 20 minutes to spare, Williamson suggests running 10 minutes away from your home, or wherever you are, before turning around.

“If you have to walk back, you walk back, but you’ll cover that distance,” he said. “And each time you do it, as you start to get in better shape, you’ll see that you’re going further and further away.”

2. Set a minimum and stick to it

Williamson said he only had two rules when he started: First, it’s only considered a run if it’s at least 3 miles straight. Second, there are no excuses.

“I got to be honest, there are some days where you just don’t feel like doing it,” he said. “There are days where you feel low-energy and lethargic, and you don’t want to do it. But the key thing is to make that first step.”

While he averages about 30 miles a week and 130 during a month, Williamson said on those days where he doesn’t feel like running, he will do his minumum of three miles. Even then, he said by the time he gets home he’ll have run more than he set out to.

“Because once you get going, you just get going and you feel better,” he said. “So when you’re on that fence of maybe not doing it, the best thing to do is to go force yourself to make that first step.”

Williams said doing your minimum on low-energy days will help keep the continuity going and you’ll feel better the next day that you didn’t cheat.

3. Make it a habit — not a chore

Williams said once you reach 21 days in a row, it starts to become a habit.

“Then you become dedicated to it,” he said. “And once you get dedicated to it, you start making sure it happens. It becomes a part of your day. No matter what kind of day I’m having, I don’t stress over it because I know at some point I’ll find the time to get that run in.”

Williamson said it took him three tries to get to 21 days in a row. He tried once in 1987 and again in 1988, but “didn’t quite get there.” then, in 1989, the routine finally stuck.

He said if he had decided first thing he was going to run 10,000 days, it would have been a chore.

“I took it in little chunks, even during that first year,” he said. “Because I’d never gone 50 days in a row, so getting into the next month, it was the same thing. It was just little incentives, or little targets, to hit. And boom, you’re through the year.”

Now, running has become such a part of his daily routine that Williamson’s wife and three grown children, and even his colleagues, will remind him he needs to go for a run if they haven’t seen him take it yet.

“It’s like brushing your teeth and it’s such a part of me that I almost don’t see it as exercise, it’s just something I do,” he said.

While it may be habit, he said it’s important not to let running — or your exercise of choice — become a chore.

“Make it into something that’s enjoyable,” he said. “Make it into something that’s manageable. Manageable in a sense that you’re not going to quit because you have a bad day. That’s the key. Whatever you do, don’t give up on yourself. It’s just too easy to do that.”