Resident walks 97 days, 586 miles and every street in the city
Robbins used two apps to track his 1,084 street journey
A Longmont resident who walked 586 miles for 97 days around the city encourages others to get out and explore what the streets have to offer — especially the art.
Software engineer and Longmont resident Justin Robbins said he initially began walking as a way to relax and decompress from work. He began walking more since the star t of the COVID-19 pandemic, because he is working from home.
“Generally I’ve been doing the same route every night — it was getting to be kind of a rut and I thought to myself in the fall, ‘You know I really need to mix this up and go to some different neighborhoods,’ and so I did some research and realized there were free apps to help track my progress,” Robbins said.
Using two mobile phone apps for city exploration called Strava and Citystrides, Robbins began his journey of walking every street in Longmont on Nov. 1 and completed his journey on March 1. He walked 586 miles, for 97 nights, on the 1,084 streets in Longmont. Some of his walking included some backtracking and repeated strides.
Robbins said some days he couldn’t enjoy his nightly walk in Longmont due to icy weather conditions, to being out of town, or to deciding to hike elsewhere for the day. After he slipped and fell on ice in December, he avoided the icy days.
When asked what strategy he used in his nightly adventures exploring ever y street in Longmont, Robbins said he used “the simplest possible strategy, which is I basically would walk about five miles a night. And then the next night I would do the neighborhoods adjacent to the one I just did. And then I just continued that way until I ended up in all the different parts of town.”
Robbins said that each day he would check his progress on Citystrides and decide what neighborhood to walk the following night. He recommends Citystrides to walkers because it’s easy to navigate and of fers more
features for free.
Robbins began his journey in southwest Longmont at his home and covered much of that part of town before he decided to drive to other areas to walk those streets. Ultimately he finished his journey on South Anderson Street, just nor th of Nelson Road.
“This was quite by accident as I only realized very late in the challenge that I had missed a street not far from my home. It turned out to be a good thing because my wife was able to join me for the final walk and captured my last few steps on video,” Robbins added.
He said even though the pandemic and the time of day he walked made it difficult to meet dif ferent people in Longmont, he did experience some memorable events along his journey.
“The first half of it I got to see all the Christmas lights, and you’ve probably noticed people went big this year with Christmas decorations. It was a lot of fun to actually go visit a neighborhood I’d never seen before and be surprised by how people just did outdid themselves with Christmas lights this year,” Robbins explained.
He also noted that he enjoyed seeing all the classic cars and trucks other Longmont residents had in their driveways. “There were so many really cool classic cars and pickup trucks that you don’t get to see during the daylight hours driving on the streets, and how many people collect them,” Robbins added.
“Other memorable moments I had were all the art in public areas — not just the official commissioned public art, but also the street and community ar t along the way was something I really appreciated. Especially some on the electrical boxes in neighborhoods, I really enjoyed those,” Robbins said.
He said these little details are missed during the hustle and bustle of the day, but that a nighttime walk can draw a special affinity to these works of art for all residents who want to go search for them. “I would say I was somewhat shocked to notice how many artists we have around us,” he added.
Robbins also received comments from residents who remembered Mark Scheidies’ similar journey along Longmont’s streets.
In 2013, Scheidies walked every street in the city and documented his journey with photos. The Longmont resident took almost a year to covered about 750 miles, since he didn’t drive to any of the neighborhoods he walked.
Scheidies was paralyzed in a fall last year and passed away a few days later, on April 30, 2020. He was 65.
“I did not know Mark Scheidies,” Robbins said. “I vaguely remembered reading a Times-call story when I first moved to Longmont about someone completing all the streets.”
For those who knew Scheidies, “this turned out to be a very nice thing,” Robbins said. “In some small way, my walk brought back fond memories of their friend. I learned that Mark was ver y well liked and missed by many in Longmont.”
This journey is one that Robbins said he encourages other Longmont residents to take. He noted how pedestrian friendly the city is.
“I would say that it was a 100% positive experience and it deepened my appreciation for the city because it gave me an opportunity to go to neighborhoods and visit streets that I previously had no occasion to go to,” Robbins stated. “I came away with the conclusion that I kind of already had, which is that Longmont is a pretty diverse city.”
Most of all, Robbins wants to “just encourage people to get out and walk. It’s not just good for your body, but it’s good for your mind. It’s where I get my best thinking done. I would say, just get out and walk, period.”