Every Single Street: how to run every street in your city

Where the idea comes from

The idea was made popular by US runner Rickey Gates. In 2018 he ran every street in San Francisco, which took him 46 days. He shared the journey under the hashtag #EverySingleStreet, and since then runners in many countries have set themselves the same challenge in their own city.

You don't have to do it in 46 days. For most people it's a project over months or years: on the side, one loop at a time, in whatever way fits your everyday life. That's exactly the appeal. Every loop gets you a little further, and you watch the blank spots on your map shrink.

How much distance is it?

More than most people think. For our city pages we analysed the streets and paths of 281 cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland from OpenStreetMap:

• Nuremberg: 1,428 km of streets and paths, with 3,174 named streets
• Munich: 3,089 km
• Vienna: 3,303 km
• Berlin: 6,708 km

At an easy 5 km/h, that's around 286 hours of pure walking time for Nuremberg and over 1,300 hours for Berlin. In reality it's a bit more: you have to walk back out of dead ends, and you'll cover some stretches twice to reach the next new street. How much extra that adds depends on how winding your city is.

How to go about it

1. Pick your goal. The whole city, one district or just the streets around your home to begin with? A goal you can see the end of is more motivating than a huge one.
2. Decide what counts. Settle in advance what you want to cover, for example all public streets with a name. Leave out private roads, industrial sites and motorways.
3. Track your progress. Without a record you lose track quickly. A paper map and a highlighter work, but an app that records your routes by GPS and shows them on a map is easier.
4. Plan in stages. Split your area into blocks and plan loops that start and end at your front door or a bus or tram stop. Do dead ends in one go, or you'll have to come back for each one.
5. Regular beats long. Two or three shorter loops a week will get you further than one long outing that leaves you needing a two-week break.
6. Walk, run or ride? Whatever you enjoy is fine. By bike you can cover larger areas, but footpaths and pedestrian zones belong to people on foot, so do those walking.

Stay safe and considerate

• Private property stays private. Driveways, gated estates and company grounds aren't part of the project.
• Motorways and expressways are off-limits to pedestrians and cyclists, even if they appear on the map as roads.
• Be visible in the dark. Especially in winter, many loops happen in the evening. Bright clothing, reflectors and a head torch help.
• Keep it quiet in residential areas. Early in the morning or late at night, you're a guest on other people's streets.

What you'll discover

Most of us walk the same ways for years. If you set out to walk every street, you inevitably end up in corners you'd never otherwise see: quiet residential streets, little parks, courtyard cafés, street names with a story behind them. Many people only notice on the way that they're already three kilometres further than planned. Curiosity is a good motivator, often a better one than a training plan.

How CLAYM helps

CLAYM is built for exactly this kind of project. The app records your walks, runs and bike rides and turns every street green that you set foot on for the first time. New streets earn points, and fully completed streets earn a bonus. You can see what percentage of your neighbourhood you already know, and if you like, the app plans a loop from your front door that takes in as many new streets as possible. Your routes stay private.

You'll find how many streets your city has on our city pages, for example for Hamburg, Cologne or Zurich. And if you'd like help keeping it up, read our guide More steps every day.

Sources

• Suunto: Rickey Gates runs #EverySingleStreet in San Francisco (December 2018).
• Street lengths: our own analysis of OpenStreetMap data (© OpenStreetMap contributors), as of 31 October 2026. Walking time calculated at 5 km/h, without breaks or doubled-back stretches.