For science buffs, 24,901 miles is the distance of the circumference of the Earth. For Nick Kirby, age 68, it represents the fulfillment of a long-held goal. After 39 years of running, he has logged enough miles, (24,902 to be exact, meticulously kept in his runner’s logbook) to have circumnavigated the globe.

Kirby does not fit the standard vision of a runner. At 6’ 2’’ and hovering somewhere north of 200 pounds, he looks more like a linebacker than a runner. Over the years, his speed has dropped from 8 minute miles when he was in his 30’s to 10 minute miles in his 60’s, but he still runs several times a week, no matter the weather, whenever and wherever he can. Running has never been about speed for him…he has run the Beach to Beacon with his son, Kyle, a few times, but he has never been interested in competitive racing.

For Kirby, running is a great way to learn about himself and about the world. By his count, he has run in 34 states, three European countries, five Caribbean Islands, Canada, Mexico, and Costa Rica. He hopes to add to that list when he retires and has more time to travel.

He is partial to running bridges, in fact he has never met a bridge he didn’t want to run. This has led to some spectacular views as well as some unexpected consequences, like the time he found a body while running under the George Washington Bridge between New York and New Jersey.

After logging miles running all over the world, it is fitting that Kirby met his goal of running around the earth by running from his sister’s house in Goreville, Illinois, the tiny town where he was born, to the farm that his grandfather owned long ago and then back to his sister’s.