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SALT LAKE CITY — A generation from now, when your children or grandchildren ask you how you spent the pandemic, you probably won’t say you spent it running the streets of Salt Lake City.
Meet Bryant Heath — the guy who spent 2020 running every single street in Salt Lake City to get to know it better.
Originally from Texas, Health has been a resident of Salt Lake City for about 10 years and during that time he said he has stayed mostly in his own neighborhood. One night he looked at a Google map and realized he hadn’t visited about 75% of the city.
He started Jan. 2 in the Sugarhouse area by running the loop inside and outside the park. He ended his tour of the entire city Dec. 18 by running near the airport, finishing up at the air-traffic control tower.
In 2020, Heath ran 118 routes throughout the city, averaging 8 miles a run for a total of almost 1,000 miles.
“What did you learn this past year” by running every single city street? Lee asked.
“How much of a travesty it’s been that I haven’t visited the west side area as much as I wish I could have,” Heath said. “It’s a very pleasant, beautiful area.”
Prior to his project, Heath said he could count on two hands the number of times he had visited the west side of the city.
“For 2021, I plan on returning a lot,” he said.
“Did you have any scares? Any tumbles? Any dogs get loose? Scrape up a knee, a first, an elbow?” Lee asked.
As for dogs, Heath said he expected to run into — or run away from — a lot more of them.
“As a whole, I’d say Salt Lake City has pretty responsible dog owners,” he said.
Heath said he had only one encounter and that was with a chihuahua that chased him for about three blocks
Heath said his project taught him this: If you can break a big task into manageable chunks and have the needed dedication, anything is possible.
“I am proud of you, I am inspired by you and thank you for pulling this off,” Lee said.
Live Mic with Lee Lonsberry can be heard weekdays from 12:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. on KSL NewsRadio. Users can find the show on the KSL NewsRadio website and app.