Jordan Ashley, left, and Bellmore JFK High School track and...

Jordan Ashley, left, and Bellmore JFK High School track and cross country coach Chris Mammone. Credit: Bonnie Ashley

Jordan Ashley just kept going. Hour after hour, the 29-year-old Bellmore native opened his front door, stepped outside and ran a mile. Some were harder than others, some were colder than others, but they all counted.

Ashley, a former track and field coach at Wantagh High School and Hewlett High School and an announcer at many Nassau outdoor track meets, ran 26.2 miles, the length of a traditional marathon, over the course of 26 hours for charity Tuesday and Wednesday, running one mile per hour. 

Ashley used the run to raise money for the Food Bank for New York City, a nonprofit organization that works to feed the hungry in the five boroughs. Ashley raised $1,237 as of Friday, according to his Facebook page.     

Ashley works as a studio manager at Orangetheory Fitness in Syosset and said he was looking for something to keep his members engaged while the location is closed and to help people in need, specifically children, during the COVID-19 shutdown. He kept track of his progress on his Facebook and Instagram pages. 

“My feeling was that New York City got hit the worst out of every area,” Ashley said. “They’re kids that have been put out of school and parents that can’t work right now and making sure that the kids are getting meals is pretty important…It’s always about the kids.”

Jordan Ashley runs 26 miles in 26 hours for charity.

Jordan Ashley runs 26 miles in 26 hours for charity. Credit: Mike Frazier

Ashley ran one mile, every hour on the hour, beginning at 7 a.m. Tuesday morning and finishing on the track at Bellmore JFK High School at around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday morning. He would leave his house in Bellmore, run half a mile, turn around and head back for the second half. 

Rest and repeat, 26 times over. 

Ashley stretched his final run to 1.2 miles, making sure he got the traditional marathon distance just right, he said. He totaled two hours, 59 minutes, and 53 seconds of running time, with his fastest mile taking 6:19 and his slowest clocked at 8:07, he said.  

Ashley said he barely slept Tuesday night, dozing off for short stretches but then going right back out into the dark when the top of the hour struck. 

“That stretch from 3 a.m. to about 6 a.m. was awful,” he said. “I already had 20 miles in my legs, and it’s just dark, cold, and I was a little sleep deprived. Getting out there every time was a little bit of a struggle, but I kept to the schedule and gutted through it.”

Ashley didn’t eat much either, he said. The fitness professional knows how the wrong kind of food can slow a runner down.

“I would have a bite of a protein bar as soon as I finished and grab a handful of goldfish,” he said. “I couldn’t really eat anything with too much sustenance to it because I didn’t want to get cramps. In the middle of the night, I started taking shots of pickle juice to prevent cramping. As soon as I finished I had a bagel and slept for five hours.”

Despite the tough conditions. Ashley said he knew he had to keep going.

“If people were willing to donate to my cause, then not finishing wasn’t an option,” he said.

Ashley, who ran track at Bellmore JFK High School and later at The Citadel in South Carolina, said he’d never run a race longer than five miles before attempting the hour-by-hour marathon, but hopes to run a traditional one within the next few years. 

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