1,100 Miles Later, D.C. Man Rests

Runner Michael Bryant, 41, charts his mileage and plans his next path using an oversize map and log book. (By Sarah L. Voisin -- The Washington Post)

For support, he often commiserated with fellow runner Ross Brennan, who had written to Bryant after learning about his project.

Coincidentally, Brennan, 46, a branch director at the Environmental Protection Agency, had undertaken his own expedition to run the entire city. He started in 1996 but was slowed by the births of his two children.

Together the men studied District maps and devised rules for what constituted a public street and road and what did not. They decided to leave out unnamed alleys, and, because it would be too difficult to arrange, the Naval Observatory and White House grounds. But they did obtain permission to run through Bolling and the U.S. Armed Forces Retirement Home.

In total, they estimate that they ran as much as 1,700 miles, including the Navy Yard, the Anacostia Naval annex and Fort McNair and all the doubling back they had to do to fill in streets here and there.

After 10 years of running the city, Brennan said he was impressed by the amount of change he witnessed "in real time," particularly on the eastern edge, where housing projects disappeared and up popped suburban-style housing developments that "look like Gaithersburg."

"It was interesting and a bit sobering," he said.

Brennan showed up Monday afternoon to join Bryant for their final four-mile run around Capitol Hill. A dozen friends came along, a few of them jogging, the others snapping pictures and cheering as they passed the finish line.

"So what city is next?" a friend asked.

Bryant shrugged, then stripped off his sweat-soaked T-shirt and announced it was up for auction.

"The bidding starts at $150," he said. No one budged, but a woman offered him a bottle of Gatorade, which he proceeded to chug.