“When somewhere familiar to you feels exotic, you’re winning.” — Beau Miles
I could always see it.
Sometimes as a vague outline in the distance. Sometimes close enough to feel like I could reach out and pick it up — as though the horizon was a shelf.
Despite bouncing around between ten different locations through my twenties and mid-thirties, the unmistakable outline of Downtown Tulsa, Oklahoma has always been visible from my many homes.
This has never been on purpose. When scoping out new digs, my checklist has never included “can see BOK Tower from the driveway” or “can make out the Midcontinent Tower from the front yard” next to “has washer/dryer hookups.”
There are many places in the city where the skyline is hidden by trees, hills, or other structures. But wherever I happened to land, those buildings were always visible — acting as a beacon to center me to my roots.
For this reason, it made perfect sense that one of my first city runs would help me feel this closeness in my feet.
It would be the first time my legs would carry me from my front door, miles away to the base of the second-tallest building in Oklahoma — the BOK Tower; Tulsa’s tallest building, a one-quarter-size copy of one of the World Trade Center towers, designed by the same architect — Minoru Yamasaki.
Though I’ve been gazing at this building my entire life, running to it from home felt less like I was approaching the tower and more as though it was growing taller before me. The structure went from a fingernail in the distance to encompassing my entire field of view — all thanks to my legs.
Though my focus had been on arriving at the building, the run home was akin to visiting an entirely new city — not the place I’d called home for over a decade. Instead of being up in the nosebleeds, my legs granted me courtside seats to the streets. It was invigorating.
A few years later, Tulsa’s city street had become my playground. Most runs have been fairly aimless expeditions — taking in the sights on larger loops or practical out-and-backs. Rarely planned. Always a good time.
It wasn’t until I discovered a website called CityStrides that I was granted an opportunity to visualize all of my past run data (as collected via Strava) overlayed onto a map of the city — like spaghetti spilled on a tablecloth.
It was quite exciting to see where I had been, but not nearly as exciting as it was to see where I hadn’t. The nooks and crannies just next to previously visited spots bubbled to the surface. Entire districts presented themselves as untrod destinations for exploration.
I began to ponder what these streets looked like from atop two legs. But how I’d methodically discover this was realized thanks to a fellow bipedal explorer by the name of Rickey Gates.
Rickey has many accomplishments to his name, including a 3,700-mile unsupported run across the mainland United States and a whole score of ultra-marathon running victories. His accomplishment that caught my attention most, however, was running every single street in San Francisco, California.
For seven weeks, he would roll out of a van and spend his days methodically exploring previously unexplored sections of his hometown via leg power — making sure to slow down to take in environments and interact with hundreds of souls.
Rickey had the luxury of being a professional runner, making his efforts great marketing fodder for his sponsors. Still, I feel like the endeavor was less of a stunt and more of a project born from his love of people and his home city. His reasons for taking on such a project resembled why city running appealed to me as well.
Since discovering Rickey’s “Every Single Street” mini-documentary, I’ve come to learn that many other people either have or are currently working their way, step by step, to run every single street in their respective towns and cities. From Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Jersey City, New Jersey and Seattle, Washington, runners have answered the call of the city to tread upon the full length of every accessible street.
So, I’ve decided to do so as well — in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
My What:
I am challenging myself to run every single street within the Tulsa city limits.
My How (The Rules):
> Qualifying streets must have names and be places where pedestrian traffic is allowed — so, no busy highways or private spaces.
> All runs must be tracked and mapped using GPS. If I experience technical difficulty and data is lost, I have to go back and re-run the street so that it shows up on my CityStrides map.
> Running along one side of a street counts as having covered a divided street that has a singular name.
> Though walking is periodically allowed, running should be the majority mode of travel.
> Stopping to take a look at interesting sights, talking to people, or taking the odd picture is encouraged.
> If a street cannot be safely run at a specific time, it will be attempted later or noted if it is permanently not safe to run.
> Safety trumps all progression.
My Why:
1. I want to explore the various subsections of Tulsa to gain a better understanding of my city and where I fit within it.
2. I also want to encourage others to branch out of their own bubbles — whether social, geographical, or beyond online groups — to discover the similarities that exist amongst people within the same city limits while celebrating our differences.
3. I like to run. Running helps strengthen my body and (just as importantly) quiet my mind. And this project requires a lot of running — about 1,611 miles of accessible streets.
Though this sounds like a wild amount, I’ve already run over 400 miles of (mostly) random streets in the past 6 months — and that’s been low for me.
Simply put, to quote my favorite runner:
“I just felt like running.” — Forrest Gump
4. To possibly support charitable causes with my running — though I haven’t made any official associations yet. For now, I’d recommend that all younger men check themselves regularly for signs of testicular cancer, and if you can, please donate blood regularly.
How to Follow the Project:
- I’ve started an Instagram account dedicated to this project, @everysinglestreettulsa.
- I will make periodic updates to my blog.
- I will document some updates of the project to my YouTube channel.
I will do my best to post the occasional update about how the project is proceeding and any new tips I discover for anyone else attempting a similar endeavor.
