How To Run Every Street: A Beginner’s Running Guide to the Every Street Challenge
Are you a seasoned runner who's conquered the 5K, 10K, and maybe even a marathon or two? Or maybe you’re tired of running the same well-trodden routes around your neighborhood?
If you’re looking for a new way to look at the paths and trails of your city, we’ve got a running challenge that could be up your alley. It's not for the faint of heart, but it's sure to satisfy even the most hardcore runners out there.
Just for Runners!
Running is a challenge. That's the way you like it. But it takes a lot of hard work -- a lot of time -- before you see the results you want. Stay motivated and reward yourself with IRLA Running challenge medals. Get a series of five medals that mark your milestones (literally!) for running. As you set more goals and make progress in your running challenges, your IRLAs give you the motivation to run farther, faster, longer.
We're talking about the Every Street Challenge, where you'll get to run every single street in your city, one block at a time.
That's right, forget about pacing yourself for five kilometers, 10 kilometers, or your 26.2 mile marathon. Now you'll need to pace yourself for a 1,100 mile journey through your city's streets. While some runners have completed their cities in just over a month, this is likely a project that’ll keep you going for months on end.
Like every good journey, though, we’ve got to start at the beginning. If you’re ready to learn more about the Every Street Challenge, read on for our beginner’s guide to the every street challenge.
TIME TO RUN THE WORLD
You’ll earn these IRLAs when you cross certain finish lines, each race bringing you a step closer to where you want to be. But the more finish lines you cross, the more you’ll see how running goes well beyond racing. Some days are race days, but every day can be a run day.
So what are you waiting for? Let’s lace-up and let loose.
Why On Earth Would I Want To Run Every Street
Because they’re there!
Started by endurance runner Rickey Gates, the Every Street Challenge is, at its core, a delightful way to explore and discover the hidden gems of your city. It has the handy side effect of being a unique and refreshing way to approach your training routine.
Unlike training for shorter races like a 5k or a 10k, the Every Street Challenge provides you with a longer-term goal to work towards. It's a great way to keep yourself motivated and engaged in your running practice. Instead of thinking purely about the need for a 15-minute run or a 15-mile run, you’ll be thinking a bit more creatively about how to use those 15 minutes or 15 miles to accomplish your goal.
Running every street in your city will also introduce you to parts of your city that you’ve likely never seen before – as well as areas in your neighborhood you’ve simply never thought to look at. You'll be amazed at how much you can learn about your city by exploring its streets on foot.
Finally, the Every Street Challenge is an excellent way to develop your endurance and mental toughness as a runner. It also encourages a consistency of running that could be key in avoiding running injuries. It requires dedication, planning, and discipline to cover all the streets in your city, but the sense of accomplishment and satisfaction you'll feel at the end of the journey will be well worth it.
Fortunately, you don’t have to do it alone – we’ve found five great tools and resources to get you to the finish line.
5 Tools That Will Help You With The Every Street Challenge
1. CityStrides
This may be the most complete tool for helping you with the every street running challenge. In addition to a fully functioning website, its pro service has a route builder that will help you to nail all those pesky remaining alleys and side streets so you can hit 100%.
2. EveryStreetChallenge Route Generator
For a free tool that will help you optimize your routes, check out this website. You’ll have to choose relatively small areas, but it can help you cover ground in a more efficient way.
3. Run All The Streets - Resources
Sometimes it helps to know you’re not alone on running challenges like these. This helpful page from the Pittsburgh-based Run All The Streets contains links to other runners attempting the challenge, as well as guides and ideas.
4. StreetFerret
Similar to CityStrides, StreetFerret is an application that’s designed to help you track how you’re running around your neighborhood.
It includes statistics like percent of streets run, percent complete of individual streets, and percent of total distance complete, and also sinks with popular running apps like Strava.
5. IRLA Running Pack Challenge Medals
To run every street requires patience and discipline. Whereas you could enter yourself in a 5k this weekend, run it, and get your finisher’s medal, running every single street in your city is a project that’ll take you a while.
To help keep you motivated, check out this pack of IRLA Running challenge medals that’s filled with real-life achievements for your commitment to running regularly, including running a variety of distances and races. Pick races that will help you knock off chunks of your city, and you’ll have a way of keeping yourself going as you come closer to running every street.
TIME TO RUN THE WORLD
You’ll earn these IRLAs when you cross certain finish lines, each race bringing you a step closer to where you want to be. But the more finish lines you cross, the more you’ll see how running goes well beyond racing. Some days are race days, but every day can be a run day.
So what are you waiting for? Let’s lace-up and let loose.
