The holiday run streak is the simplest challenge in running: at least one mile, every day, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. Runner’s World made it popular with its yearly #RWRunStreak, and plenty of runners now do it on their own. It’s short enough to finish and long enough to change how December feels.
The 2026 dates
Thanksgiving falls on Thursday, November 26, 2026, so the streak runs from November 26 to Friday, January 1, 2027. That’s 37 days, counting both ends.
| Day | Date | Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thu Nov 26 | Thanksgiving: the first mile |
| 7 | Wed Dec 2 | One week |
| 14 | Wed Dec 9 | Two weeks |
| 21 | Wed Dec 16 | Three weeks |
| 30 | Fri Dec 25 | Christmas Day |
| 36 | Thu Dec 31 | New Year’s Eve |
| 37 | Fri Jan 1 | Finish line |
The rules
The holiday version only asks for a mile a day. If you want your streak to count by the official definition, the run streak associations (Streak Runners International and the United States Running Streak Association) are stricter:
- At least one mile (1.61 km) a day. Four laps of a 400 m track is 1,600 m, about 9 metres (30 feet) short of a mile, so run a little past the line.
- Continuous: the mile is one run without stopping. Walk breaks don’t count toward it.
- Each calendar day, not each 24 hours. A run at 11 pm and another at 6 am the next morning are two days.
A missed day ends an official streak. For your own version you can set your own rules before you start (a walk on a sick day, say), as long as you decide them in advance and not on the day you want an excuse.
How to keep it going through the holidays
Plan the mile, not the run. On most days you’ll do more than a mile. The rule is there for the bad days: travel, a late party, a cold. Know where your one-mile loop is from home, from your parents’ place and from the hotel.
Run early on the hard days. Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve fill up by the afternoon. A mile before breakfast is done before anyone can ask you to peel potatoes. On Thanksgiving morning, a local turkey trot counts too.
Have a dark-evening plan. By December the light is gone early in the northern hemisphere. Run at lunch, or wear a headlamp and something reflective.
Go easy. Thirty-seven days in a row with no rest day is a lot for legs used to three runs a week. Keep most days slow and short, especially in the first week. If something hurts more than usual, a mile walked or a day off is better than a streak that ends in January with an injury.
Tell someone. Runners post their daily mile with #RWRunStreak. A friend doing it with you works just as well.
Reward the milestones
Thirty-seven days is long enough to need something to look forward to on day 12. Pick a small reward for each milestone in the table above, and save the best one for January 1:
- Week 1: new running socks
- Week 2: a long bath or a massage gun session
- Week 3: a gel or snack you usually don’t buy
- Christmas Day: the mile is the present; open one gift after it
- January 1: the running shoes, watch or race entry you’ve wanted
For more ideas see rewards for working out, and if you want a whole month of other challenges, December challenge ideas.
How to track it
On paper, print a monthly habit tracker for November and one for December, and cross off each day you run. Or keep a live count in the free streak tracker, no sign-up needed.
On your phone, Habit Rewards does the counting and the rewarding. Add “Run 1 mile” as a daily habit, set a reminder for the time you usually run and put your milestone rewards on your reward list with a coin price. Each run you check off earns coins by how hard you rate the habit (1, 4, 8 or 16), so at 4 coins a day the 37 days earn 148, enough for the January 1 reward if you price it that way. If you’re running your own version of the rules, a Skip costs 10 coins and keeps your streak alive on a sick day (under the official rules it would end it).
FAQ
When is the holiday run streak in 2026? From Thanksgiving, Thursday, November 26, 2026, to New Year’s Day, Friday, January 1, 2027: 37 days.
How far do you have to run? At least one mile a day. Most people run more on good days and exactly a mile on the busy ones.
Does walking count? Not for an official streak, which needs one continuous mile of running. For your own version it’s your call: decide before you start.
Does a run streak have to start on Thanksgiving? No. The holiday streak does, but any day is a good day to start a streak. The rules are the same.
What if I miss a day? An official streak starts again from day 1. If you’re doing it for the habit, do the next day’s mile and keep going: 36 of 37 days is still a December most runners don’t have.
Try Habit Rewards: the habit tracker that rewards you
Every habit you check off earns you coins. Put a coin price on the treats you want and claim them once you've earned them. Free for three habits, on iPhone and Android.
On a computer? Scan it with your phone to open the App Store or Google Play.
Using Notion?
Start with our free Notion habit tracker and formulas, or get the aesthetic Notion Habit Tracker template with heatmaps and streaks.
More articles you may be interested in:
- Free Notion Habit Tracker Templates (and How to Build Your Own)
- Trigger, Behavior, Reward: The Habit Loop Explained With Examples
- Rewards for Achieving Goals: 80 Ideas, Sized to the Goal
- How to Reward Yourself Without Spending Money (and for Saving It)
- Non-Food Rewards for Adults: 75 Ideas (and How to Stop Rewarding Yourself with Food)
- No Spend January 2027: Rules, a Printable Calendar and a Free Tracker
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