When YouTuber Hellah Sidibe, who goes by HellahGood, Mens Health US running Smash your goals with a, it was just a two-week challenge. The stunt wound up blossoming into a two-year commitment, with him running 4,525 miles in 730 days across multiple continents.
Sidibe ran 2,807 miles over the first year, averaging 7.6 miles every day. Following an injury, he lowered his daily mileage during the Year 2, running 1,718 miles with a daily average of 4.7 miles.
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This all started when he challenged himself to run for a minimum of 10 minutes every day for two weeks.
“My mentality was just to get out there for 10 minutes—the distance didn’t matter for me, the pace didn’t matter,” he says.
From there, his stamina improved and he soon began to push himself to run four, five, six miles each day—even on days when he was feeling weak, tired, or unmotivated.
“I know there’s going to be a stage I hit during my run where I’m going to forget about that because my brain is going to tell me to keep going,” he says. “So when I’m going through that stage of pain, I start smiling to myself because I’ve experienced this before, and I’m going to keep going.”
He says he’s learned a lot about himself and the mental strength set himself the task of.
“Until you put yourself to the test, you kind of don’t believe it. I always thought you can do whatever you put your mind to, and I’m like yeah I can, but to actually experience it was amazing.”
He adds that running through any type of weather condition—rainstorms, blizzards and 95 degree heat—and Smash your goals with a, including holidays, has made him more resilient and determined as a person.
“Now, when I look at other obstacles in life, I’m like, ‘That’s going to be a piece of cake.’”
All About 75 Hard Men's Health, Running Shoes - Gear NYC Marathoner Ran Home After Chemo and How Des Linden Keeps Showing Up. His other work has appeared in Teen Vogue, British GQ, and The Independent.
