How do we use runOnUiThread in Android?

I'm trying to use the UI-Thread, so I've written a simple test activity. But I think I've misunderstood something, because on clicking the button - the app does not respond anymore

public class TestActivity extends Activity {

    Button btn;
    int i = 0;
     
    @Override
    public void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.main);
        btn = (Button)findViewById(R.id.btn);
        btn.setOnClickListener(new View.OnClickListener() {
            @Override
            public void onClick(View v) {
                runThread();
            }
        });
    }
    
    private void runThread(){
        runOnUiThread (new Thread(new Runnable() {  
            public void run() {
                while(i++ < 1000){
                    btn.setText("#"+i);
                    try {
                        Thread.sleep(300);
                    } 
                    catch (InterruptedException e) {
                        e.printStackTrace();
                    }
                }
             }
        }));
    }
}

Below is corrected Snippet of runThread Function.

private void runThread() {

    new Thread() {
        public void run() {
            while (i++ < 1000) {
                try {
                    runOnUiThread(new Runnable() {

                        @Override
                        public void run() {
                            btn.setText("#" + i);
                        }
                    });
                    Thread.sleep(300);
                } catch (InterruptedException e) {
                    e.printStackTrace();
                }
            }
        }
    }.start();
}