Published March 12, 2021
By GAIL LOWE
MELROSE—Before the coronavirus pandemic put the entire world out of commission, Hillside Avenue resident Kyle Block would be at work, at home with his wife Samantha, two children Levon and Scarlett and Nelly (an Anatolian Shepherd) or playing ice hockey, a sport he has enjoyed since childhood.
But like most Americans, Block has been in lockdown and unable to play hockey for more than a year. Even so, he found another way to remain active by doing something he had not done in seven years—running— which, he said, has been “a linchpin” to maintain his sanity.
Block said he is not good at sitting still and always likes having something to do, whether it’s a house project, mowing the lawn, walking in circles or just going somewhere.
The senior project manager also cares about his health and well being and believes that when a person’s body feels good, their brain feels good, too. Like many others, he realized that the pandemic was taking its toll, and he fought back by running as a means to stay physically and mentally healthy.
In April and May 2020, as flowers were blooming and there was some sense of hope after the COVID-19 darkness, Block would go on long walks with the family’s dog before anyone in his household was awake. He took great pleasure in watching the sun rise and realized, perhaps for the first time, that Melrose is truly a beautiful city.
Block said he started running without a plan in place and just ran here and there until all the roads were completed. After Christmas when times were dark and cold, Block said he needed something more than just “going for a run,” so he made it his goal to run past every single home on every single street in Melrose. Now he is tracking his runs on a printed-out map as well as GPS routes he uploads to Google Maps.
“Each run starts from our home and works through each neighborhood,” he said.
For Block, running is a release from the rest of the world where he can listen to his favorite music (almost always Phish) and forget about what’s happening around him. His focus is on trying to catch his next breath, the sound of his feet hitting the ground and losing himself in his own mind.
“A really good run is one you don’t even remember happening because you ‘black out.’ It’s when your body is in perfect tune and you don’t get tired, winded and everything is working like a machine,” he explained. “It’s a time when you can hear your chest and get zoned in on the music in your ears.”
Block doesn’t meditate or go to therapy (although he thinks maybe everyone should after the pandemic ordeal). For him, running is about as close to getting to a Zen state as possible.
“I can forget about everything and just listen to my shoes hit the pavement,” he noted. As he runs by each house, he says a silent “hello” to the homeowners.
As of Sunday, March 7, Block has run 151 miles across Melrose. Except for a six-week break to heal an injury, his every-other-day running schedule has been consistent.
“Everyone who lives here truly respects their property and their neighbors’ property,’ he said. “The pride people take in their homes is so cool and, in all honesty, there really is no other place I would have wanted to live during the pandemic.”
While on his runs, he has come across “awesome” Victorians, “cute” Cape Codders and even new apartment buildings downtown. He said the city is quite hilly and that his most difficult run came on Saturday, Jan. 30 when the temperature plummeted to 14 degrees Fahrenheit and he was “looping around” the Hoover Elementary School neighborhood.
One of his more recent runs took him to the neighborhood behind the Lincoln School where neighbors were gathered and talking.
“And there I was, sprinting down the middle of the street and stopping right in the middle of their conversation and taking off in the opposite direction,” he said. “I said hello but didn’t really stop to listen for a response, but I was wondering what they were thinking.”
One thing he determined, though, about halfway through was not to run on Main Street as this was going be his final run.
“The only time I’ve been on Main Street is to cross it, but I haven’t run a single block yet.” This past Sunday, he planned to run through the Fells on the Fellsway and back around to Oak Grove where he would run a straight shot back to his house right down Main Street.
“This would be kind of a celebration of Melrose.,” he said.
The Melrose runner is looking forward to the day when the pandemic is under control and he can once again go to concerts with friends and family.
“As I get older—and I guess everyone around me—concerts have become reunions of friends and family where we get together, hug, have some drinks, have some fun and just let loose,” he said. “A year without live music and seeing friends has been really tough.”
In recent years, a large group friends chose “destination concerts” and there were a few scheduled for 2020, but they were all canceled.
“I can’t wait to get back into this rhythm and actually give a hug without worrying about giving or getting COVID-19,” Block said.
During the first three to six months of the pandemic, Block and his family didn’t see anyone at all.
Luckily, his extended family is all close and they have been grateful for being able to see each other recently. “I can’t even imagine them being far away and what that would mean,” he said.
