YouTuber Hellah Sidibe, also known as HellahGood, is known for his epic running streak. He set himself a challenge to run for a minimum of 10 minutes every day for two weeks straight, which then turned into him running every single day for one year, then two years, and most recently three years.

While he is continually testing and pushing himself to do better, the runner’s latest physical feat was inspired by a larger sense of purpose.

“I wanted to do something that could shine a light upon the individuals who we lost to racial injustice,” Sidibe said, explaining how he set himself the challenge of running an equivalent to the length of the entire New York City subway system—245 miles—in 10 days or less.

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Settling on a goal of 7 days, Sidibe broke his run down to a target of 35 miles per day. “I dedicated each one of those runs to a man, woman, or child that we lost,” he said. “George Floyd. Ahmaud Arbery. Breonna Taylor. Freddie Gray. John Crawford III. Trayvon Martin. Sandra Bland.” He also spoke with the friends and families of each of these people, in order to be able to donate money to a cause which he felt best “aligned with their stories.”

Sidibe got up early each day to try and cover as many miles as possible before the heat made it unbearable, then completed his run in the evening once it had cooled down. However, after a few days he began to get dehydrated, so he sourced a treadmill to finish the challenge.

“I do have to say, recovery is key,” he added. “Every time I got home, I was hanging my leg up, I was foam rolling, I was using my massage gun. I did anything to make sure I was taking care of my body every moment I got.”

His nutrition plan for the week was simple. “Bagels. I ate bagels, and bagels, and bagels like it was my job.” He also consumed large volumes of electrolytes, protein shakes and energy gels to keep himself going and recuperating throughout the week.

“For me, the biggest challenges during this run were more mental than anything,” he said. “I occupied my mind during this run with self-talk. I literally had to tell myself, ‘It could always be worse, Hellah. There are people who have it worse right now, people are going through so much worse pain than you… life can really rough, and what you’re doing right now does not compare.’ I have the ability to run, and use that ability to put light on something that we need to talk about and find a solution for. That kept me positive the whole time.”

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