Right after Christmas, I’m going on yet another small boat cruise. This boat is even smaller than the one I took in Alaska. No treadmill, no hallways, really. There’s one deck I could potentially run around and piss people off.

Does running in place count? I don’t want to cheat.

Here’s the boat in question: https://www.uncruise.com/why-us/our-fleet/safari-explorer

Thank you. It doesn’t feel like it should count. Do you know about running up and down stairs?

In terms of ending a streak, having to donate bone marrow would be the best reason. Drunkenly tripping on a wine cork would be the worst. “I’m on a fancy yacht and can’t run” is also pretty bad. Alas.

Well, I count it, but I'm not going to put it on an official website.  I just didn't have any other options a few days in Beirut and South Africa!  I ran several minutes longer than it typically takes me to do a mile.

The question of what is, or is not running, is an interesting one.  It's not one that I typically think about.  However, when it comes to a streak, it really is an important question.  If you had agreed to follow a certain set of "rules" about a streak, then running in place or pool "water" running may not fit the definition.

I do think that in most cases, it really comes down to what you can accept.  To some, it takes a commitment to dressing and heading out the door for a particular distance.  For others, it could be running down the street after a late night out with friends.  While some would not feel comfortable counting a slog, in jeans, for a half mile to their car.  Others would feel perfectly fine with that option.

To me, it really depends on how much you are willing to bend.  Once you have dropped your expectations to a certain level, it tends to make it that much easier to push the definition of what is running, and what isn't, to even more unusual levels when needed.

The answer lies with what you feel is right.  Do you feel that running in place is right?  If not, then it isn't.  However if you run the ten feet from one end of your small room on the ship and turn around and run back, then maybe that is running, since it isn't in place.  Both seem so close, yet can be rationalized differently.

Why wouldn't running in deep water in a pool count if running on a treadmill or in place would work?  The action is exactly the same, and in one's mind the act is the same.

Unless there is a written, or unspoken, rule associated with your streak, then it all counts.  If you're looking at what the rules are for this thread, then I would suggest that the person that began the thread could set some rules to belong to this particular club.  Until then it seems like it's all in the mind of the individual runner.

Whatever you decide, go with it, and believe it was the right choice.  Good luck!

Looking at the boat pictures again, I think I could run back and forth on the sun deck.

I like the definition provided by RunnerKSA .

The key point may be the added comment, "and the distance is measurable".  Running in place would not have the ability to have a distance measured.  The same issue would be similar with that of pool running, which is a pretty good substitute when needed.  However, the lack of ability to measure distance will doing so would create the problem of being useable for streak mileage.

Good point, RunnerKSA.

Here's one interpretation:

 

"The official definition of a running streak, as adopted by the Streak Runners International, Inc., and United States Running Streak Association, Inc., is to run at least one mile (1.61 kilometers) within each calendar day. Running may occur on either the roads, a track, over hill and dale, or on a treadmill."

 

My personal interpretation of that would be that running in place would not count, but it also appears from other comments on streaks that it is up to the individual to set whatever rules they personally want for their streak.  To me, treadmill running is every bit as hard (if not more so ) than running outside, and the distance is measurable, which makes it different from running in place.  I would be inclined to run back and forth even in a small space.   I actually almost had to do that once around a tiny indoor motel pool on a business trip because the power was out in the treadmill room and there was a foot of ice and snow outside.  The power was restored quickly, so I only got in a few laps around  the bathtub sized pool.

I just looked at the ship layout and website of your tiny UnCruise and it looks like an amazing experience. Enjoy, and tread gently!