Press | Marilyn Walks Manhattan

UES Grandma, 77, Nearly Finished Walking Every Block in Manhattan

By Dashiell Allen | April 18, 2026 | 9:00 am

Intrepid Upper East Side grandma, Marilyn Menick, will celebrate an incredible milestone this weekend as the septuagenarian completes the final stretch of her two-and-a-half-year quest to walk every street in Manhattan — all 630 miles of them — and she invites the community to join her in celebration.

“For years I dreamed about it, but it was impossible,” said Menick, 77, a born-and-raised New Yorker, avid walker and grandmother, who is a personal trainer and previously owned a fitness studio.

In June 2023, she turned her dream into a reality; with a map in hand, she set out from her apartment along East 96th Street, turned right onto Third Avenue and started her journey south, walking down to the East 40s before looping back up Lexington Avenue.

Since then, she has used her map — never ditching it for a digital app — to track her progress, crossing off every street she ventures down. On Sunday, accompanied by friends and family, Menick will walk the last five miles in her ‘Marilyn Walks Manhattan’ challenge on Governor’s Island, a park to the south of the Financial District that is technically part of the borough, while on Saturday, she’s planned another eight-mile stroll through Central Park. More than 170 people have signed up to attend, she says.

“I’m proud of myself that I stuck to it,” Menick told Upper East Site, “but on the flip side, am I happy that it’s over? I’m not, because I loved every minute of it.”

Menick is proud to have walked through every season, even the bitter cold of winter. Not only is she proud of her own athletic feat, “I’m inspiring older people to get up to walk and if by finishing it, I get one person off of the sofa, then I am happy that it’s over,” Menick reflected.

“It was hard for people to believe that I would have this vision and this desire to do this at my age,” she added, but “that number is not important — if you want to do something, you need to do it.”

Furthering that goal, she’s an ambassador for EverWalk, a nonprofit that builds community by leading adults on long walks, and which produced shirts to commemorate her journey.

Menick is also an ambassador for EverWalk, a nonprofit that builds community by leading adults on long walks. Menick has also used walking to raise nearly $70,000 for breast cancer research via the team she founded, Walking Warriors Battling Breast Cancer.

Throughout her walk, she got to see the city she grew up in from a completely new perspective —particularly the neighborhoods above 96th Street, which she has not previously spent much time in.

“I went out in every single season and every type of weather,” Menick said proudly.

Menick enjoyed getting to know Manhattan neighborhoods she was previously unfamiliar with, especially north of 96th Street.

From the murals of East Harlem and an over-30-year-old rubber-stamp mom-and-pop shop to trying countless slices of greasy NYC pizza, Menick remembers it all fondly.

“Before I would go out, I’d read a little bit about the neighborhood I was going to walk in, about the people who came to this country and settled there,” she said. “When I looked at the apartments, I really could envision all of these immigrants living here.”

Menick isn’t slowing down now, despite having nearly finished her 630-mile journey. She’s not slowing down now. After an interview with Upper East Site inside of Ruppert Park, Menick went right into demonstrating a hip flexor stretch as she prepared for her next adventure.

Free registration is available through her website for friends, family and neighbors who wish to join Menick for her last steps.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Marilyn Walks Manhattan
Email: marilynwalks1@gmail.com
Website: https://www.marilynwalksmanhattan.com/

Phone: 917-336-9454

At 77, Grandmother Set to Complete 630-Mile Journey Walking Every Street in Manhattan

Final celebratory walks set for April 18–19 in Central Park and Governors Island

NEW YORK — After more than 630 miles on foot and two and a half years of walking, 77-year-old New York grandmother Marilyn Menick is preparing to complete an extraordinary personal goal: walking every street in Manhattan.

The final miles of the journey will take place during a public finale weekend on April 18–19, 2026, with celebratory walks in Central Park and on Governors Island, where Menick will officially complete the borough block by block.

Menick began the journey in June 2023, driven by a lifelong love of Manhattan and a desire to experience the city in its entirety—not just its iconic landmarks, but every neighborhood and street that makes up the borough which includes Randall’s, Roosevelt and Governors Islands. By setting out to walk every street, Menick has experienced Manhattan in a way few residents or visitors ever do—slowly, one block at a time.

“I wanted to truly know Manhattan,” Marilyn said. “Not just the places everyone recognizes, but every corner of it.”

Over the course of the adventure, Menick has walked the equivalent of about 24 New York City Marathons, gradually covering thousands of city blocks across Manhattan’s grid. What began as a personal exploration of the city has grown into a story that resonates with people far beyond those who know her personally.

Fast Facts: Marilyn Walks Manhattan

Age: 77
Total distance walked: Approximately 630 miles
Project duration: June 2023 – April 2026 (about 2½ years)
Goal: Walk every street in Manhattan
Final miles location: Governors Island, part of the Borough of Manhattan
Finale events: April 18 – Central Park and April 19 – Governors Island
Equivalent distance: Roughly the distance of 24 New York City Marathons

Since then, Menick’s walks have taken her through all corners of the borough—from Inwood in northern Manhattan to the Financial District, across residential blocks, waterfront paths, historic districts, and busy commercial corridors.

Along the way, Menick’s journey has become something more than a personal challenge.

Friends, fellow walkers, and even strangers who have heard about the project have been inspired by the idea that exploration, curiosity, and physical activity have no age limit. Many have joined Marilyn for portions of the walk, while others say her story has simply motivated them to get outside and start walking themselves.

At 77 years old, Menick has become an unexpected symbol of active aging and a reminder that movement is one of the simplest and most powerful tools for maintaining health and vitality. Her journey has resonated particularly with women who see in her story an inspiring example of staying active, engaged, and adventurous later in life.

“People often think of walking as something ordinary, but it can completely change how you experience your community, your city, and other people,” Marilyn said.

The journey will conclude on Governors Island, which is part of the Borough of Manhattan, where Menick will complete the final miles needed to finish walking every street in the borough.

Finale Weekend Events

The public is invited to join Menick for the final walks.

Saturday, April 18 – Central Park Walk
Participants will explore many of Central Park’s most scenic and historic locations during an approximately 8-mile walk, with the option to join for shorter segments.

Sunday, April 19 – Governors Island Finale Walk
The walk moves to Governors Island, where Menick will complete the final miles of her journey. At approximately 1 p.m. she will walk the final block and cross a ceremonial finish line, breaking the tape and officially completing her 630-mile walk across every street in Manhattan.

Participants may walk the full routes or join for shorter portions.

What began as one woman’s curiosity about her city has grown into a celebration of exploration, community, and the power of putting one foot in front of the other.

“You’re never too old to explore, to challenge yourself, or to start something new,” Marilyn said. “Sometimes all it takes is stepping outside and putting one foot in front of the other.”

Event details and registration information are available at Marilyn Walks Manhattan.

About Marilyn Walks Manhattan

Marilyn Walks Manhattan is a personal project by New Yorker Marilyn Menick to walk every street in Manhattan. Since beginning the journey in June 2023, Menick has explored neighborhoods across the borough on foot, covering more than 630 miles and inspiring others to discover the city one block at a time.

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Press Release PDF

November / December 2025 | BETHESDAMAGAZINE.COM

Block by Block

At 76, Marilyn Menick is walking every street in Manhattan
By Amanda Cherrin

Most weekend mornings, Marilyn Menick heads to the Jane E. Lawton Community Recreation Center in Chevy Chase to meet up with the walking group she leads on 90-minute treks through the surrounding neighborhood. At 76, Menick can easily be mistaken for someone 20 years younger due to her youthful energy, work as a personal trainer and role as the Bethesda ambassador to EverWalk, an international community of walkers co-led by famed swimmer Diana Nyad. On a morning in June, Menick’s EverWalk group maintains a brisk pace as they discuss family, food and her latest venture—a quest to walk every single block of Manhattan, the 22.7-square-mile New York City borough where Menick lives part time.

“She’s amazing; she just walks and walks and walks,” Washington, D.C., resident Irma Thacker, 76, says of Menick, whom she met almost a decade ago through the Avon Walk to End Breast Cancer. After the Avon walk disbanded, the two women were among a dozen walkers who formed a group to participate in other charity walks and twice-weekly excursions under the EverWalk banner.

Menick and her husband, who is now deceased, moved from New York to Montgomery County in the early 1970s, first settling in Potomac and later relocating to downtown Bethesda after their two children graduated from college. Along the way, Menick built a regional day care empire of 25 centers before deciding to change careers in 2006. “Everyone tells you, ‘Do what you love.’ The only thing I really had a passion for was fitness,” says Menick, who opened the now-shuttered Fitness Express gym in Potomac in 2006 and later began attending EverWalk’s weeklong walking trips, eventually becoming an ambassador for the organization.

Menick purchased an apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side in 2017, hoping to split her time between New York City, where she grew up, and Montgomery County, where her children and their families still live. A few years into her New York stint, Menick hatched a plan to explore the city on foot.

“Between my passion for New York City and my love for walking, I have to say, it just came to me,” says Menick, who is covering Manhattan’s approximately 2,870 blocks in three-hour increments, walking alone or, occasionally, with friends. “It’s been an amazing, amazing journey.”

Menick began her pursuit on the streets of lower Manhattan in 2023 and has slowly made her way up the island, marking her progress on a paper map that she keeps in her pocket. “I like my map. I like to mark it off,” says Menick, noting that she has tried digital options for tracking her routes but prefers the old-fashioned approach. “It also provides me with a lot of great opportunities because I look like a tourist. People think New Yorkers are cold and not friendly, but people will stop and ask, ‘Do you need directions? Where are you from?’”

Menick’s effort received national attention after a fellow EverWalk ambassador publicized it on an EverWalk Facebook page. According to Ann Marie Rakovic, EverWalk’s Central Park ambassador, the response was electric. “All of a sudden there was this crazy stirring of interest. People from all over were saying, ‘I want to walk with you; I want to be a part of this.’ It was an extraordinary response.”

The outpouring of interest led to the creation of a two-day event designed to allow Menick’s supporters to participate in her journey. This past March, almost 200 people from around the country, including EverWalk’s other co-founder, Bonnie Stoll, walked parts of Central Park, Harlem and Roosevelt Island with Menick.

“Her energy, her spirit, her motivation, it’s pervasive,” says Rakovic, 65, who helped spearhead the event. “She inspires people to do what she’s doing, even if they can’t do it to the degree she’s doing it. She has a little bit of a glow, and you want to catch that.”

These days, Menick has nearly completed her quest; her trusty paper map is tattered and coffee-stained. “I feel very blessed at 76 years old I can do this,” says Menick, who still works as a personal trainer, coaching clients online and as part of the Senior Shape program run by Bethesda’s Suburban Hospital. “I do want to inspire other people, older people. If I can do it at 76, you can do it.”

What’s next for Menick after she walks the final Manhattan block?

“As I’m approaching the end of it, I’m getting a little nervous,” says Menick, who plans to complete her challenge by walking Manhattan’s Governors Island with family and friends in early 2026. “What is my next challenge? It’s got to be walking. I thought about walking a different borough, but I don’t have a passion for any of the other boroughs. Maybe I’ll do [Manhattan] over again.”

(Photos courtesy Marilyn Menick.)

Bethesda Magazine online

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Marilyn's story in the online Patch went viral!
This Upper East Side Grandmother Is Walking Every Block In Manhattan

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2025 Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

76-Year Old Fitness Icon Walks Every Street In Manhattan - Join Her For Some Miles

New York, NY - At 76 years young, fitness instructor and EverWalk Ambassador Marilyn Menick is redefining aging by walking every single street in Manhattan. Now, she invites others to join her in celebrating this incredible journey on March 29 and 30, when she will lead 2 walks totaling 15 miles covering iconic locations like Central Park, Upper Manhattan and Roosevelt Island.

This two-day event promises not only a scenic adventure but a powerful message: staying active, connected, and inspired is the key to embracing every stage of life. The event is open to walkers of all levels and participants will have the unique opportunity to walk alongside Marilyn and EverWalk co-founder, Bonnie Stoll, who will join the celebration.

Marilyn Menick, EverWalk Ambassador who also leads Senior Shape classes and inspires her community with her mantra that "aging is a state of mind" is nearly finished with her goal of walking all of Manhattan's streets. Her message is simple yet profound: "staying fit, eating well, and keeping a positive attitude can make aging the best years of your life".

About Ever Walk:

Ever Walk is an international walking initiative co-founded by Diana Nyad and Bonnie Stoll, dedicated to inspiring people of all ages to embrace an active lifestyle through walking. Come be part of history in the making – Manhattan streets, await you!

Event Details:

Dates: March 29 & 30
Distance: 2, 5 or up to 10 miles
Registration closed on March 4, 2025
Locations: Central Park, Upper Manhattan, Roosevelt Island

Don't miss this extraordinary chance to celebrate fitness, community, and the power of determination with Marilyn. Whether you join for some or all of the walk, you'll be inspired to take your own steps toward health and wellness.

To join Walk:

More information here.

Contact information:

Mobile: 917-336-9454

Email: marilynwalks1@gmail.com

Event website: https://www.marilynwalksmanhattan.com/