EAGLE MOUNTAIN, Utah — A Utah man is running hundreds of miles with a sign to spread joy to his neighbors. Along the way, he inspires people to bring a smile to others’ faces.
Ben Lyne is the "runner guy with a sign" in Eagle Mountain. On Saturday morning, people lined the side of the road by Cory Wride Memorial Park, holding signs with motivational messages like “I believe in you,” “It’s going to be OK,” “You rock” and others.
“If I saw somebody out running like this, it would resonate with me and I would really appreciate it,” said Lyne.
Lyne says he does it to make strangers feel loved.
“It’s a reminder on days when people might be thinking of giving up or just struggling just to get through whatever, and a simple message of ‘I believe in you’ coming from someone you don’t know, sometimes it touches the heartstrings,” said Danny Shepherd.
The first time Shepherd saw Lyne’s sign was when he saw him running along the street through his window.
Lyne has run hundreds of miles in the city with his “I believe in you” sign.
“So one day, I was driving down the road, and it was kind of early in the morning and I was having a terrible day,” recalled Elizabeth Evans. “I looked up and there was this guy running with a sign that said ‘I believe in you’ and all of a sudden, I just started crying, like all of these tears, and I couldn’t believe it.”
Lyne started doing this a year and a half ago to bring positivity during the pandemic.
“I joke around and tell people that this is for me, this is selfish, because I get so much out of it. It just adds a whole other layer of purpose," he said.
To get more people involved, Lyne hosted an event Saturday where people could make their own signs with messages of love and hold them up for strangers driving by.
“I think maybe it was something everybody needed for themselves, as well as to share with other people,” said Evans.
Danny Shepherd and his son, Trip, were part of that team.
“I think about these people as they’re driving by, wondering what they’re going through, and I hope that maybe one of our signs today, they read it and it impacted their day," Shepherd said.
Shepherd said this has been a difficult year for his family — but seeing Lyne running with his sign is a glimmer of hope.
“Feel lifted up for a time because it is worth it, and you are loved, and I love you, whether I’ve met you or not," he said.
“My main goal is to uplift people, but also to share it,” said Lyne.
He hopes to host more events so people can make and hold signs to share messages of positivity to those who need it. You can find him on Instagram at @runnerguywithasign.
