Sullivan adds Red Oak to goal of running through every Iowa city

A North Liberty man is a few miles closer to his goal of running through every city in the state of Iowa.
Tyler Sullivan, a former resident of Iowa City, has a goal to run at least one mile in every city, no matter the size, in Iowa. So far, he’s run through more than 1,000 cities and towns in Iowa.
Sullivan was in Red Oak during Junction Days and participated in the Junction Days fun run June 25. Sullivan said the idea for his statewide run came to fruition while he was in the midst of a long-distance relationship.
“I had a girlfriend who lived in Mason City, and I would travel there every other Friday after work and go through counties I’d never heard of before. One Friday while I was driving up there, it occurred to me that there had to be something special in these counties, so every time I went up to her, I picked something to do, and every time she came to visit me she picked something,” Sullivan said.
After she moved to Des Moines and the couple separated, Sullivan said he felt that there had to be much more to the counties than what they were specifically known for.
“I went to the welcome centers and picked up brochures so I could study the counties. In 2018, a friend challenged me to run in each of the cites. Since I’m a marathon runner, I laughed because 200 population towns, I knew there wasn’t a way I could run a marathon in the towns, Sullivan explained. “He said I didn’t have to go far. In the smaller cities I could run at least one mile, and in the other, bigger cities, I could run in their local races, and that sounded like fun,”
Sullivan based the cities he visited on the road map. Sullivan said whether the cities were unincorporated, or incorporated, he still counted them. That method, Sullivan said, allowed him to find some hidden cities along the way.
“I’ve visited Morton Mills and Tenville, and neither of them are on the roadmap, I just simply saw their signs while I was driving. I parked by the side of the road, ran a half-mile in those towns, and came back to get my mile in,” commented Sullivan.
Sullivan has also self-published two books of poetry, one dedicated to his grandparents and the other to his high school coach. Sullivan wrote the poetry following the symbolism of the red cardinal.
“If you see a red cardinal, it’s supposed to represent a passed loved one. My grandmother passsed in 2011 due to lung cancer, and my grandfather died in 2019. The first book was a collection of poems, along with the backstory about who my grandparents were to me, with the symbolism of the red. I got a red Yahtzee cup because it was grandma’s favorite game, and the bottom of my shoe is red in honor of my coach,” advised Sullivan. “I found out the day after my 16th birthday that my coach was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He never cared about winning or losing, it was about giving your best every single day, and the winning will take care of itself. That’s the way I treat all these cities. Whether they’re big as Red Oak or bigger, or small like Coburg, I still give it my best effort to run and find that hidden gem. There’s a hidden gem in every city, you just have to look for it.”
In 2020, Sullivan said his friend and mentor challenged him to write a poem for all of Iowa’s 99 counties.
“It’s been a challenge to come up with a poem for all 99 counties. I’ve written about 92 county poems, and I’ve worked on about 98 total. My goal is to split the state into nine different sections. It will be pictures from every single county, a poem for each county, and the back story of what I did. I spoke to a publisher in Keokuk County and he agreed to publish my poetry and I cried tears of happiness in front of him because I’ve been doing this for eight years,” commented Sullivan.
Sullivan paid a visit to Red Oak June 16, and he has roughly five counties left in Iowa to run through. His plan is to close out his tour by running through Washington, in Washington County, though Sullivan said he’s in no hurry.
“It’s a bigger city to run through. Also, instead of running through cities I try to find local road races to do. That way I can slow down because I don’t want this to end. I’ve also been going to a lot of state parks. This year, I’ve visited about 16 parks. The cool thing about Iowa is that our state parks are free. Humboldt, Wright, Harrison, and Pottawattamie County are left. Also, I’m letting people close to me randomly choose the county out of a hat to make the visit adventurous and fun.”
Meeting new people and seeing new things, Sullivan said, has been the most interesting part of his adventure.
“People have welcomed me with open arms. The museums are wonderful, like in Pocahontas and Ida County. Our state parks and scenic views are also incredible. You never know what you’ll find. Even the local diners are amazing. I stopped at a diner in Decatur City and got a hamburger, fries, and a milkshake for seven bucks, a meal that I’d pay a lot more for in the big city,” Sullivan said.
For more information on Sullivan, or to follow his journey, follow him on Facebook at facebook.com/whoisyourredcardinal.