KENT COUNTY, Mich. — A Michigan man has completed his goal of running a 5K in every county in the state.
On September 26, Michael McCatty drove eight hours to Keweenaw County in the Upper Peninsula, took a four-hour ferry to Isle Royale and journeyed into the remote island's rough, rugged terrain. He had limited cell service and, searching for a signal, his phone died halfway through the run.
But after jogging past vistas overlooking Lake Superior and rows and rows of pine, McCatty had finished his five-year challenge. One state. Eighty-three counties. Eighty-three runs.
"I would like to say it was a very emotional day," McCatty said to FOX 17. "To be honest, it was more relief."
"This challenge — although it's all about running 5Ks — I soon learned it was mostly about driving and spending money," he said.
In 2020, McCatty, a marketing manager from Traverse City, sought to find "a simple challenge that was something less than marathon training."
"Well, everybody runs a 5K. There's no problem there," he said. "But I was thinking, what if I ran every county in Michigan?"
McCatty tracked his runs on Strava and took photos of his travels. On weekends, he knock out a couple of counties. On work trips, he'd run during his downtime. All of it wound up on his website.
"What I get out of it, more than anything, is to continuously work at improving where I'm at today," McCatty said.
In Kent County, McCatty parked at a hotel and ran through downtown Grand Rapids, starting and finishing at Rosa Parks Circle.
In Ottawa County, he passed through residential Grand Haven and ran alongside the Grand River for a short length.
In Muskegon County, he circled Hart Lake, bounding through backwoods and dirt trails.
“Every county is so different," McCatty said.
The people in Michigan's counties, though, are not so dissimilar.
"Everybody seemed to be nice. I think that was shocking to me," McCatty said. To be out of my town of Traverse City and be completely downstate near Ohio, and everybody's nice."
The miles ran by McCatty are many. The miles driven are more than he can count. What he can do is say he did it.
"Anybody can do this," he said. "It's been a very good experience for me."
