MUNCIE, Ind. - Along dimly lit signs, you will see a few commuters and people pulling up at a gas station, but you might also see a man in a glowing vest. That man is Justin Sorensen, and he has one goal: To run across all the streets of Muncie.
“I will admit some parts of running Muncie is like a trail run,” Sorensen said.
Usually starting his runs at 5:30 a.m., Sorensen had to navigate through dead-end roads, oncoming traffic, and streets he already ran across. At one point, he even briefly ran through a gated community.
While on his quest to cover Muncie, he sells coverage of a different kind… insurance coverage. He runs the Allstate branch in the city. The wall of his office is covered with framed photos of his family.
“I want to be able to provide for my family, and I want to be able to serve God. And so, anything that I'm able to do that helps me be able to accomplish those two tasks, I'm going to lean that way,” Sorensen said.
Family is the reason he got into running. His second daughter joined cross country in the 7th grade. So, when his daughter and her friends signed up for a 4-mile run for a Fourth of July event, he signed up too.
“It was really, really hard for me, though, but I did that, and I wanted to be out there with them, participating in it. And kind of at that point, that's when something really turned around for me,” Sorensen said. “I have no idea what my time was or anything like that, but it was embarrassing enough to me that I wanted to do better.”
The photos on the wall are now a time capsule. They are over a decade old. Four of his children are adults now, and their framed one-year-old son is now 13. However, that doesn’t mean their support has wavered. Angela Sorensen, Justin Sorensen’s wife, says the family continues to support one another.
“I mean, it brings him a lot of joy and happiness to run and push himself and try and do hard things. And so why would I not want him to become a better person? And so that's why I support him the way I do, because it's helping him challenge himself in a good way,” Sorensen said.
Alongside going to church on Sunday, Sorensen finds connection with God on his jogs. He often finds himself praying while running.
“I won’t say all the time, but anytime something is on my mind, this is the place to clear it, and talk with him,” Sorensen said.
After months of work, Sorensen finished his goal on Saturday. In a text message to NewsLink Indiana, he said it was a “very satisfying check mark of a goal set and accomplished.”
Contact Daniel Huber with comments at daniel.huber@bsu.edu.
