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Run, Gary, run!

Run, Gary, run!
The Brooklyn Paper / Dennis W. Ho

Brooklyn’s version of Forrest Gump has hit the halfway mark on his quest to run every inch of Brooklyn’s roadways — but now he’s giving it a rest.

Gary Jarvis’s quest to traverse the length, width and depth of Brooklyn has been well-documented — but the enormity of the task has, frankly, taken its toll.

“I didn’t realize how big and dense and concentrated Brooklyn is,” said the Iowa native, who had apparently failed to look at a map before predicting that he could run the entire borough.

“Brooklyn is enormous.”

Perhaps by comparison to Iowa City, whose 230 miles of streets Jarvis once ran. As he learned, however, that’s nothing compared to Brooklyn’s 1,599 miles of mean streets.

Jarvis had never spent time in Brooklyn until he moved here to be with his girlfriend. Like any newcomer, he figured the best way to get to know his new home would be to get out.

“Talk about not thinking things through,” said Jarvis, whose presence has been noticed everywhere from Greenpoint to Bensonhurst.

“He’s a bona-fide Brooklyn character,” said the expert in that department, Borough President Markowitz, who added that he hopes “to join him for a run soon.”

On Friday, Jan. 19, Jarvis hit the halfway mark and started a much-needed break.

He claims he’ll be back on the roads in six weeks — but it’s no longer clear if he’ll make it.

“I feel so awful and so tired,” said Jarvis, who doesn’t warm up or stretch.

He’ll turn 41 in May. But his advancing age isn’t his excuse.

“I guess I’m just a little lazy,” he said.

Find out whether Jarvis gets back on the road by visiting his Web site at www.runsbrooklyn.blogspot.com.