Helen Ryvar goes through the same routine every night. She checks the weather forecast, lays out her running clothes, puts her running shoes by the front door, charges her cellphone and flashlight, and sets the alarm for 4am.
By 4:15am, she is out the door — rain or shine.
“I’m just an ordinary person doing extraordinary things,” said Ryvar, a single mother of three who runs her own cleaning business in normal daytime hours and pounds the streets, paths and trails of north Wales at a time when the rest of the world would typically be asleep.
Photo: AP
Forty-three-year-old Ryvar took up running in 2020, just before the UK went into lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic and after being told her ex-husband had died following a mental health battle.
Four years later, she is a world record-holder for consecutive half-marathons — her day-on-day tally, featured in the Guinness World Records book, reached 743 this past weekend — and an inspiration to many, all while raising money for her favorite charities.
“The runs have become the easy part — it’s juggling life that has become the daily ongoing task,” said Ryvar, who has a 17-year-old and 15-year-old twins.
Ryvar classed herself as a “mediocre runner” while at school and was never really into sports. Even now, she does not have all the latest running gear, does not follow any special diet — just three balanced meals a day — and does not really care about her speed when she runs.
It is more about building a strong mindset and getting to know her body, she said.
“I found doing it every day, you just get used to it,” she said. “Your body and mind just get used to the routine, and you turn off that pity party that you had with yourself and get on with it.”
“Keep accountable somehow — you’ll build up confidence in yourself and you’ll want to push more,” Ryvar said.
“Form a habit. If you’re not comfortable doing it by yourself, join a group. There are loads of Facebook groups, or join a park run. Sign up for a race and commit. When you have a goal, it makes a massive difference,” she added.
Ryvar’s goal is to reach 1,000 consecutive half-marathons, which would be some feat considering the previous record for officially timed half-marathons was 75.
She could reach that milestone on Jan. 24 next year — a date she has circled on her calendar.
In the meantime, she is just happy to have that “nice fuzzy feeling inside” whenever she goes running and to be changing people’s lives with the money she raises for Cancer Research UK and a local charity in Wrexham, Nightingale House Hospice.
Her new hobby is also allowing her to see the world, having had trips in the past few months to Jordan, Miami, Turkey and Malta — where she was on national television.
“I’m definitely riding a wave and getting a lot of support,” Ryvar said. “It’s something you can’t buy. It’s such a sense of satisfaction.”
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