One St. Joseph woman ran the entirety of the city in just over three years
By Leah Rainwater
A local woman has fulfilled her goal of running all throughout St. Joseph.
Candice Knuteson started her running journey in 2009, running races, dashes and trails of all kinds.
She started her goal of running through St. Joseph on Sept. 7, 2021, tracking all of her work through CityStrides, a website that tracks running progress, which she’s used since 2018.
“It’s interesting, because when I first moved here, people are like, ‘Really? You’re going to run on the other side of Messanie or on the South End?’ and you know, it’s hilly and potentially dangerous,” said Knuteson. “Usually when I’m out running sometimes it’s early in the morning and people, I think are — if anything — they’re in shock.”
Since then, she has run all 1,002 streets throughout the city, which totals 454.03 miles.
“It’s every kind of street you can imagine,” said Knuteson. “It could be gravel, it could be highway … so I had to run the Belt. That’s usually one of the first questions I get is, ‘How do you run something like the Belt?’”
Knuteson said she was able to practice runner safety on the Belt Highway by not listening to music, wearing bright clothing, running toward traffic and planning to run when there isn’t going to be heavy traffic.
Throughout her journey, Knuteson ended up running a total of 1,514.79 miles to check St. Joseph off of her goal list.
“I’m always looking for something a little bit different and some more adventure,” said Knuteson. “So that’s where CityStrides fits in … and even when I travel, I can be in any city for work or pleasure and I’m out hitting the streets.”
For Knuteson, it’s not about the miles.
“I’m checking out restaurants and meeting people,” said Knuteson. “I just find it a really good way to kind of mix up your running routine … and you don’t even realize that the miles tick by.”
Knuteson said out of all of the places she’s run, St. Joseph’s parkway system never fails to brighten her experience.
She also said there’s been positives that she has found through running.
“A lot of times, you’re out when the sun is out and you’re getting some of that … you know, fresh air, getting away from my desk,” said Knuteson. “And you don’t have to see it as a chore. Again, you can look at it like I do — as an adventure and an experience.”
Knuteson said she’s working on completing surrounding cities.
So far, along with St. Joseph, she’s completed Elwood, Kansas, and is one street away from completing the Village of Country Club, Missouri.
Knuteson is also working on Amazonia, Missouri; Savannah, Missouri; and Parkville, Missouri.
