The Rev. Adam Eckhart, senior pastor at the First United Church of Christ in downtown Milford, has taken on a unique mission of jogging down every public street in the city. Eckhart’s challenge, which he’s calling the “Milford All-Street Challenge,” began in early September.
As of now, Eckhart has logged 163 miles, which he estimates covers about 105 miles of actual Milford streets due to him doubling back on dead ends and overlapping paths.
His daily runs are typically between four to five miles, and he estimates that it will take him around two to three months to finish his run.
Eckhart states, “I like to exercise outdoors and I like a challenge.”
To see his progress, he uses a running app and a custom-coded program made by a church member to overlay and track his completed routes.
For years, Eckhart has participated in the “Maryland Challenge,” a one-day, 40-mile hike along the Appalachian Trail, a tradition started by hikers that he, his friend Steve, and friends of Steve continue to do. Doing this challenge is what motivated Eckhart to do the Milford All-Street Challenge.
Eckhart states, “Having finished the Maryland Challenge many times, this challenge, what I call the Milford All-Street Challenge, seemed like something I could handle.”
This run isn’t just a challenge, it’s also about community and connection.
This fall, Eckhart’s church is focusing on a theme called Our Neighborhood. Running the streets of Milford allowed him to connect with the city in a more personal way, seeing nature, architecture, and sometimes fellow church members along the way.
“Sometimes I ring their doorbell, or they come out to say hi and offer water,” Eckhart says.
Jessicca Turner, the music teacher for Foran High School and a member of the First Congregational Church, feels very inspired by him. She loves the message of being a good neighbor and taking time to know your neighbors.
Turner highlights that, “At a time when he feels like there is a great deal of disagreement and negativity, I think his message of positivity and doing something that may seem small could potentially be very big.”
Eckhart, who’s lived in Connecticut since college, isn’t new to long walks. While he hasn’t completed a marathon yet, he’s not a stranger to outdoor endurance, having gone through multiple 5Ks.
His interest in urban and suburban hiking sheds light on his inspiration from a Yale naturalist who would hike from New Haven to wherever he could get to a few miles away.
Eckhart states, “Aldo Leopold was a naturalist who went to Yale in the early 1900s. After his classes were over on many days, he would hike from New Haven to wherever he could get to a few miles away, then try to return to his dorm by around sundown. He inspired me to do my own urban/suburban hiking, like at least once a year.”
Eckhart’s journey through every street in Milford is more than a physical challenge; it’s a meaningful way of building a connection with the Milford community.
