I’ve wanted to run every street in Santa Barbara for while. When the pandemic hit I was out of excuses. Here is an update on the first six months of this project. I hope it inspires you to get outside and see your community!
A little over a year ago, broken-hearted and grieving my son I turned to podcasts and audio books for a brief reprive from the sadness in my heart. I heard professional runner, Rickey Gates, being interviewed on The Rich Roll Podcast talking about his project, Every Single Street. In 2018 Gates ran every street in San Fransisco, CA. He completed the task in 45 days, averaging 29 miles and day totaling over 1,300 miles.
Listening to his story I thought, could I do something like this? It seemed crazy but also somehow accessible. I filed the idea and all it’s possibilities away under my ever-growing list of “someday.”
Someday is today!
We all know what happened next. Pandemic, schools closed, hospitals overrun, stay at home orders, toilet paper shortages, etc.
A few weeks into lockdown with no end in sight I felt the itch to do something and I thought of Rickey Gates and my “someday” file.
While picking up a bunch of books I thought I would have time to read I asked the clerk to throw in a street map of Santa Barbara.
(Side note, most of those books sit taunting me in pile on the floor next to my bed)
A few weeks later on my usual loop through San Marcos Foothill Preserve I just kept running. I took a left turn through a neighborhood near my house and stopped to chat with a few friends. They asked what I was doing and I said, “I think I’m going to run every street in Santa Barbara.” When they didn’t try and talk me out of it I got excited. I got home went straight to my map to trace out the streets I ran.
Running every street in Santa Barbara would mean a new route every week and with that a new level of mindfulness. No longer could I coast comfortably knowing all the turns and hills ahead. I had to stop, think, plan, and backtrack when I went the wrong way. A project like this would require I let go of any idea of efficiency.
Going Public
I wanted to get a few runs under my belt before I shared my progress, but on June 6th I posted my first run to Instagram and I’ve been pretty steady ever since.
Hey, look! I’m famous!
Process
I run once a week, usually on Saturdays and occasionally I can get in an extra run on Sundays.
First, I look at my paper map to get a general idea of where I want to run. Then, I use MapMyRun.com to map out a route so I have an idea of where to go and how many miles I will run. I like to keep my runs between 5-10 miles. During the run I use Strava to keep track of which streets I ran that day.
When I get home I use a sharpie to trace the streets on my paper map. I use different colors so I can differentiate one run from another.
So far…
- Date: May 16th – December 6th
- Distance: 219.81 miles
- Time: 48 hours!
I hope to do a longer update once a month to share my progress and maybe a little Santa Barbara trivia too. In the meantime, you can follow me on Instagram, #everysinglestreetsb I usually do one post a week and share the pictures I take in my Stories.
