Running every single street in Oro Valley (#essov) sounds like it would be a tall task, physically exhausting, and maybe a little boring honestly. Most people would probably ask why undertake such a project, particularly during the scorching Tucson summertime. As residents of Oro Valley and REALTORS who regularly drive in and out of neighborhoods in the town, Stephen Woodall and Angela Greynolds certainly aren’t strangers to the area. You’d think there would be no novelty, nothing new to learn for people who’ve spent years and years living in this environment. To the contrary, we knew there were hidden gems all throughout the Town of Oro Valley that we hadn’t seen. While we drive many of these streets frequently, so much of what’s available to see gets missed while whizzing by at 25, 35, or 45 miles per hour.

Let’s back up though, how did this idea form? The inspiration to run every single street in Oro Valley developed back in the Spring of 2019 after learning of professional runner Rickey Gates taking on a similar project in San Francisco (see a film by Salomon following Rickey’s project here: https://youtu.be/jy_W5qsjB5U ). Rickey is no stranger to adventure runs having run across the United States recently (explore this project in his book: Cross Country: A 3,700-Mile Run to Explore Unseen America) and both of these running adventures allowed him to see the surrounding world up close. They also gave him the chance to connect with people of all backgrounds while out exploring on his runs. Clearly Oro Valley, Arizona is not the urban metropolis that San Franciso, California is, so our ability to interact with people would be much more limited since fewer people are out on the streets here. However, this area offers incredible natural beauty and is alive with a growing suburban population.

While the idea sounded intriguing, nothing came of it during 2019 and into the first part of 2020. Then the pandemic hit and with all foreseeable races cancelled due to COVID-19, we figured what better time to tackle this project than now to keep motivated and active in our running. Usually trails are our preferred location for running, but Angela likes to stay closer to home in the summer heat and with the Bighorn Fire taking so many trail options off the table, everything seemed to line up to make Summer 2020 the perfect opportunity to explore Oro Valley in this unique manner. The next step was deciding how to go about planning this adventure. Thankfully Rickey’s adventure provided a “road map” for this undertaking and he was pretty clear that anyone following in his footsteps should make their adventure their own. Therefore, there aren’t any “rules” to follow of what’s an official street, which roads should be run, etc. Our start began by finding a map on the Town of Oro Valley’s website of streets responsibilities within the community. From here we decided we’d run all of the roads (paved or unpaved) that were named or led up to residences, while staying off of actual driveways. This decision put into play running the parking lots around apartments too but allowed us to not having to worry about commercial center parking areas.

At some point we may create a more exhaustive description of the daily journeys we undertook, but one of the highlights was the amount of beautiful scenery we encountered. Oro Valley is blessed with extraordinary beauty and two nearby mountain ranges in the Catalina Mountains to the east and the Tortolita Mountains to the north. Of course the majestic saguaro, blooming prickly pear, and spiky barrel cactus were also ever present. Within neighborhoods we discovered new, small trails, decorative yard art, friendly neighbors, and everything from mobile/modular homes to multi-million dollar homes and everything in between. Of course the wildlife came out to greet us too! Javelinas, countless rabbits & birds, gila monsters, snakes, and thousands of lizards made our adventure always interesting.

We ran all of the miles together, with Stephen’s son also running about 1/4 of all the miles and his daughter joining in for some runs & bike rides too. Given that the project took place in the summer and Oro Valley isn’t known for pedestrian traffic, our interactions with people were usually limited to friendly waves while passing neighbors tending to their yards or out for a morning stroll. There were encounters with past running club athletes, an entrepreneurial lemonade stand youngster, and friends who passed us while driving around. Oro Valley also has a plethora of commercial art which makes the community more interesting and became the subject of many photographs on our runs.

Clearly very few others will undertake a project like this, but we’d highly encourage everyone who reads this to take a few moments exploring your own town in a way that you normally wouldn’t. Maybe that’s walking a new neighborhood one evening or riding a bike down to the store instead of hopping in the car. Possibly it’s just a quick stop to explore a neighborhood park that you haven’t visited. Regardless of how long you’ve lived somewhere, if you look hard enough you’ll find all manner of new & interesting things about your own town!

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Stephen & Angela’s Every Single Street in Oro Valley Stats