Bud Wisseman before a run with the Chattanooga Track Club at Chickamauga National Military Park on Saturday, April 7, 2018, in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga. Wisseman will be running the Boston Marathon for the 29th consecutive time this year.When 78-year-old Bud Wisseman crosses the starting line at the Boston Marathon April 16, it will be his 11,015th consecutive day of running.
That's 30 years, one month and 29 days; every day since Feb. 19, 1988.
"I want to keep the streak going. I want to get at least a mile in on the day I die," the East Brainerd resident said. "It just becomes a thing. Once you get it going so far, you just think 'Why would I stop?'"
Some days he runs a mile; other days he runs a marathon. One day, his run involved one lap through a hallway at Erlanger Hospital.
That was the closest the streak came to ending. A blocked intestine hospitalized Wisseman a couple of years ago and left him connected to medical equipment. He thought he was going to be unable to get out of bed that first day. However, he garnered what strength he had before the day ended. He climbed out of bed, and one step at a time, completed a lap around the hallway in his unit. The following day, his brother-in-law came to visit and measured the distance of the hallway. Over the next two days, Wisseman did laps, making sure to complete a full mile during his stay.
It's that strength Wisseman hopes to expel at next Monday's race. It will be his 29th consecutive and final Boston Marathon.
"I'm worn out," he said. "I'm 78 years old. It's no fun."
Wisseman was the first Chattanooga area resident to join the Boston Marathon Quarter Century Club, signifying 25 consecutive completions of the race. The distinction puts him in a select group and means he no longer has to qualify for the race, but he does still have to finish six hours after the last runner crosses the starting line.
He's hoping to finish, but if he doesn't, he said he just wants to enjoy the experience.
"I love Bud. He's an incredible inspiration, and he makes me want to be like him," fellow runner Betty Holder said. "When I'm his age, I want to still be running."
Holder, a former Chattanooga resident, traveled back to the area Saturday from her Gulf Coast home for an 8-mile farewell run with Wisseman and some Chattanooga Track Club members.
The club held a sendoff run for Wisseman at the Chickamauga Battlefield Saturday morning, as it has since the year of that 25th marathon.
"We just wanted to cheer him on," event organizer Lynda Webber said. "We contacted him the following year and just told him that if he's going to run, we're going to continue to run with him."
Wisseman doesn't know how the race will end. He admits he doesn't think he will finish before the time cutoff, but one thing is certain, he said: This is his last hurrah.
Contact staff writer Mark Pace at mpace@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6659. Follow him on Twitter @themarkpace and on Facebook at ChattanoogaOutdoorsTFP.