BATTLE GROUND — Over the past 6½ years, Jeff Grisso has become as familiar a sight on Battle Ground’s roadways as traffic jams and stoplights.
“If you live in the city of Battle Ground, you’ve probably seen Jeff walking around and not known who he was,” Battle Ground Mayor Troy McCoy said.
On Saturday, McCoy joined dozens of family members, friends, city staff, and police and fire crews to celebrate Grisso’s final leg of a remarkable journey — walking the circumference of the Earth.
While Grisso didn’t physically walk around the globe, he did walk the equivalent — 24,901 miles — in that time.
“It’s incredible. He just puts his head down and goes for it,” said Philip Johnson, a former Battle Ground mayor.
Somewhat shy and introverted, the 40-year-old Grisso is more comfortable behind a keyboard, working as a lead platform engineer for Nike, than as the center of attention. He said he hadn’t planned on sharing his story, but the more he talked to family and friends, he realized others found his journey inspiring.
“I’m surprised they turned out the way they did,” Grisso said. “I posted my story on Facebook and LinkedIn and didn’t think it would actually go anywhere. But the city picked up on it and were coordinating with my parents.”
Grisso started walking after his doctor urged him to make some lifestyle changes.
“I had an office job for a long time, and my health was in decline. The doctor read me the riot act,” he said. “I enjoyed hiking as a kid with my family, so I figured I’d start walking, start the habit back up again.”
Grisso said he started with short walks, making the trip from his home to the local park. He also wasn’t walking every day, as he does now. In those early days, he said he only walked a couple miles a week. But as his health improved, he began walking farther and more frequently. He also picked up speed.
“He started out with a few miles here and a few miles there and pretty soon he was doing 6 or 7 miles a day and 13 or 14 miles on the weekend,” said his father, John Grisso, who helped organize Saturday’s celebration. “The miles started clicking up and pretty soon he said, ‘I want to go around the world.’ He’s documented all his mileage from 2018 to today.”
Jeff Grisso’s sister, Marianne Gunderson, said there’s no keeping up with her brother’s walking speed.
“He’s much, much too fast. He has offered on occasion, but there’s no way. I need to work up to walking with my brother,” she said.
Most people walk an average of 3 or 4 miles per hour, but Jeff Grisso covers far more miles in that time.
“During the pandemic, I could squeeze (a walk) in during my lunch hour. So, I’d do a loop of the city, about 10 miles,” he said. “And on the weekends, I have a big 16-mile loop I do each day.”
He also doesn’t let the changing weather slow him down, taking the summer heat, spring rains and chill of winter all in stride.
“I’m absolutely impressed. During the heat dome we were asking, ‘Are you sure you’re going to be OK walking in the heat?’ And then there’s extreme temperatures, freezing cold and he has to get clamps for his shoes to walk on ice,” Gunderson said.
Jeff Grisso said July 2021’s heat dome, when temperatures topped 115 degrees, was a struggle.
“Four liters of ice water wasn’t enough. That was a nasty day,” he said, adding he prefers walking in the cold where he can add layers to stay warm.
Two years into his walking regimen, he signed on to the city’s Adopt-a-Street program, picking up trash along Parkway Avenue between Onsdorff and Eaton boulevards.
“I was noticing that there’s a lot of trash around. So, I thought, you know, no one’s picking it up, so I may as well do it,” he said.
“He’s filled 127 of those bins. That’s 45 quarts per bin. That’s a lot,” John Grisso said.
Along with the typical aluminum cans, plastic bags and paper often found on the side of the road, Jeff Grisso has picked up car parts, an Apple watch, an old typewriter, toys and the occasional vinyl record.
“It’s about 9 square yards of trash, or 27 feet by 27 feet. That’s a lot of garbage over the years,” he said.
Along with making Battle Ground a cleaner place to live, all that walking has had a big impact on his health.
“The doctor gave me a clean bill of health. Before, I was denied things like life insurance, but I can get that now. I lost a ton of weight. And my health has really improved,” he said.
To stay motivated and on track, Jeff Grisso turned to his tech background for help. He used an Apple watch to track his activity, played games like Pokemon Go to keep him moving to the next target, and listened to music, audiobooks or podcasts. He also said having other people following him on social media, asking how many miles he logged that day helps keep him motivated.
“It’s really hard to get out there when I’m sick or something. But I’ve also found that if I go out walking or running, it burns the sickness out of me a lot faster. So even though I hate it, it helps,” he said.
What comes next for Jeff Grisso?
“Maybe I’ll work on lap No. 2,” he said. “I’ve got one lap of the Earth down. Maybe I can do a second.”
