After 16,526 consecutive days, the world’s longest women’s running streak has come to an end. Lois Bastien, 88, of Ottawa, ended her run streak on July 16, due to arthritis in her foot.
Photo: Streak Runners International/FacebookBastien shared the news with Streak Runners International (SRI), the official database for run streaks, in an email: “My arthritis is giving me a problem. My feet are swelling. My last day to run was July 16, 2025. Thank you for keeping all the running records.”
According to SRI, Bastien held the world’s longest active women’s running streak and was also their oldest active streak runner—at 88 years and 10 months. With her streak now retired, she holds the longest women’s retired streak and ranks sixth overall (among men and women) on SRI’s all-time retired list.
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Born and raised in the nation’s capital, Bastien lived in Ottawa until she was 23, when her husband, Ronald, took a job in Florida. The couple then relocated south, where Bastien started her run-streaking journey.
She began her streak with a simple goal: to support her daughter, who wanted to make her high school cross-country team. In a previous interview with the Tampa Bay Times, Bastien said what started as a motherly gesture became a lifelong commitment. “I liked the way I felt after a run—full of vigour and glad to be alive,” she said. “I never really gave it much thought. It was just part of my routine.”
In recent years, Bastien had to cut back on mileage. At her peak, she ran at least eight kilometres a day and took part in many races, including the 1988 New York City Marathon.
