Ultrarunner runs 1,400K to cover every road in the Florida Keys

Back in May, we covered an American ultrarunner named Jen Golbeck who was in the middle of a challenge that saw her attempting to run every road in the Florida Keys. On Tuesday, after running for four months, she completed the 1,464K project. An archipelago off the southern coast of Florida, the Florida Keys are made up of around 1,700 islands. There aren’t roads on every island, but Golbeck still had to hit a lot of them throughout her challenge, and she has earned a well-deserved break after spending much of 2020 focused on this goal. 

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With all of the virtual races in 2020, Golbeck had extra motivation to complete her Florida Keys challenge. She ran several virtual races while crossing off roads in the Keys, including the Great Virtual Race Across Tennessee. The Overseas Highway connects the Florida Keys, stretching 170K from Key Largo to Key West, and the islands make up 356 square kilometres of land. After months of hard work, Golbeck posted on Instagram to announce the successful completion of her challenge and that she will be taking some time to rest. 

RELATED: Rickey Gates runs every single street in San Francisco

Her challenge is similar to one completed by another American ultrarunner, Rickey Gates, a few years ago. Gates ran every road in San Francisco, tallying 2,085K by the time he finished. There is also a new Aravaipa Running virtual event called the Every Damn Street challenge which will see participants attempt to run every road (or trail) in their towns between September and the end of 2020.