Mother of three Helen Ryvar uses early morning routine to become record

WREXHAM, Wales (AP) — 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 4 a.m.

By 4:15 a.m., she’s out the door — rain or shine.

“I’m just an ordinary person doing extraordinary things,” says 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.

The 43-year-old Ryvar took up running in 2020, just before Britain went into lockdown amid the coronavirus 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, has reached 743 this past weekend — and an inspiration to many, all while raising money for her favorite charities.