First inspired to get healthy, over six years ago, Jeff Grisso of Battle Ground, began a journey of walking the streets of Battle Ground and beyond so much that it has equated to a trip around the world.
On Saturday, Jan. 25, Grisso completed his goal of a trip equivalent to the distance around the earth, which won’t be the last of his walking. To reach the starting point of his celebratory journey, Grisso traveled, of course, by foot. He led a group of family and friends, including Battle Ground city councilors and city staff from City Hall, down Main Street and finished at the community center.
“The first step is always the hardest,” Grisso said. “It gets easier from there.”
The Grisso family expressed their gratitude to the city of Battle Ground and the Battle Ground Police Department, along with Clark County Fire District 3, for making the day special.
Grisso crossed the finish line at the community center with an officer and firefighter holding the banner that marked the completion of walking around the globe, hypothetically.
It took Grisso roughly six and a half years to complete the 24,901-mile journey. Along the way, Grisso kept track of stats, including fun fact ones. He has worn out 20 pairs of shoes, walking roughly 1,200 miles per pair. He has also worn out 83 pairs of socks, traveling roughly 307 miles per pair. Grisso walks an average of nine miles each day, he stated in his statline.
John Grisso, Jeff’s father, said that after his son walked 6,000 miles, the idea to walk the equivalent of earth’s circumference came about.
“I go, ‘yeah, OK, whatever,’ ” John Grisso recalled. “So the years clicked by, and he documented everything on his Nike apps, and he finished today, and it’s amazing statistics, but the one that sticks in my mind is his over 4,500 hours of walking computes to six and half months of walking, 24 hours a day. That puts in perspective how much he’s walked, and he walks seven days a week.”
Jeff Grisso’s stats include the hottest walk at 117 degrees when Battle Ground was stuck under the heat dome, and in Minneapolis, Minnesota, when he traversed by foot in 7-below weather. His average walking pace is fast enough that John Grisso said, in order for family to join, they go by bicycle.
On his journey though, Jeff Grisso has helped the city of Battle Ground in a massive way. He adopted Parkway Avenue from Onsdorff Boulevard south to Eaton Boulevard. He has picked up almost 7 cubic yards of litter and debris, enough to fill 127 45-quart bins.
“He’s picked up machetes. A typewriter was found. He’s found dolls,” John Grisso said. “... He’s picked up about 5 gallons of nuts and bolts, things like that just off the city streets.”
