photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Baldwin City author Steve Pierce is pictured in Lawrence in early April. Pierce finished the process of running all 520 miles of gravel road in Douglas County last year, and now he's written a book about the experience.

As far as Steve Pierce knows, he’s likely the only person to have run all 520 miles of gravel road in Douglas County. Soon, folks will be able to get a sense of what that peculiar accomplishment was like.

That’s because Pierce, of Baldwin City, has written a book documenting the experience: “Running Douglas County.” The first-time author’s work will be available on his website and at two Lawrence booksellers — Signs of Life at 722 Massachusetts St. and the Raven Book Store at 809 Massachusetts St. — starting this week. The book includes nearly 200 photographs taken by Pierce along the way, as well as a chronicle of his progress in the form of dated running logs.

photo by: Steve Pierce

Steve Pierce’s book includes nearly 200 photographs he took while running Douglas County’s gravel roads.

The book title and concept was in his head for a number of years, Pierce told the Journal-World earlier this month, and he decided that he’d better truly run the entirety of the county if he wanted to make the book a reality.

“… It didn’t seem right to not have run all of the county to use that title (‘Running Douglas County’),” Pierce said. “Part two of the book is me going around and running every section of (the county) map. I’ve run every stretch of gravel road.”

To make that happen, Pierce recorded his progress on a paper copy of a map of Douglas County. But it didn’t start out completely bare; a portion of the map was already filled in when he decided to run the entire county. Pierce and his family have lived in Baldwin City since 2000, and he estimates that he has run some 35,000 miles in southeastern Douglas County in the years since, mostly in areas close to his home.

But an actual inventory of Douglas County roads revealed around 350 miles farther from home that he hadn’t touched. Pierce drove his car to the areas he wanted to tick off and filled in the rest of the map, bit by bit. All told, the process took from September of 2021 to November 2022, when Pierce finished the final 1.5 mile circuit left on the map.

“For me, it was just a joy to discover,” Pierce said. “Going out and going to places I never would’ve gone to otherwise, the discovery of what was there … The variety of the terrain, of the landscapes. It was just very nice to go out and discover that.”

photo by: Steve Pierce

Steve Pierce’s book includes nearly 200 photographs he took while running Douglas County’s gravel roads.

Pierce is now in his 60s, and reckoning with how his daily running habit has changed as he recovered from a hip replacement and spinal surgery in recent years — experiences that became a key element of the book. There was a curve to getting over those injuries, Pierce said, and he’s become increasingly considerate of his body’s limitations as a result.

“Running went from me pushing myself to my best to compete to just (doing it) to enjoy it,” Pierce said. “… Just the freedom of moving over the earth, and over time — I didn’t really see it happening as it happened — falling in love with the countryside.”

The resulting work is a mixture of things Pierce finds joy in — running, of course, but also the nature of Douglas County, the act of creating photography and even his place in the universe.

Pierce said he originally meant for the book to act as a time capsule for himself and his children, so he could see the sights he used to see daily when he eventually can no longer run, but then he started to think there could be wider interest. The seeds of that thought started with his old teammates from the University of Kansas cross country team.

“We were like soldiers,” Pierce said. “We would battle together. When you’re training so hard to become a good runner at the university level, you form this sort of ‘in the trenches’ bond, and we still are very closely in touch … At some point I thought, ‘Maybe this will have some universal appeal. Maybe it’s not just for me anymore.'”

photo by: Steve Pierce

Steve Pierce’s book includes nearly 200 photographs he took while running Douglas County’s gravel roads.

photo by: Steve Pierce

Steve Pierce’s book includes nearly 200 photographs he took while running Douglas County’s gravel roads.

Now, Pierce said it’s “comforting” to know that he’s achieved the goal he set out to complete and that it’s memorialized in his book. On top of that, he thinks the finished product ended up being something just about anyone can enjoy, including him as he ages.

“Whoever wants to appreciate it, I want them to appreciate it,” Pierce said. “… It definitely ties back to the beginning, to the genesis of the book. To have something for myself, and now I do.”