'I didn't do this to just run': Canadian hip hop artist runs 100 marathons in 100 days for men's mental health

Canadian hip hop artist Dillan King ran 100 marathons in 100 days over the summer to raise awareness about men's mental health. (Supplied photo)

Canadian hip hop artist Dillan King says running 100 marathons in 100 days was not only the hardest thing he has ever done, but the “proudest accomplishment” of his entire life.

The life-long Torontonian, who currently calls the city’s west end home, ran more than 4,200 kms this summer to raise awareness about men’s mental health.

King, who is 32, began his extreme endurance challenge on June 17 and concluded his 100th run on Sept. 24 at Yonge-Dundas Square, surrounded by a large group of family members, friends, and supporters.

Aside from running 42 kilometres every day for more than three months straight, King recorded and posted daily messages on his social media accounts, mainly on Instagram, sharing thoughts about his experience, tools to get through life’s tough times, and other insights and bits of wisdom he’s learned along the way.

Thousands of people have since interacted with his posts and he continues to receive dozens of messages every day from men who have been inspired by his journey and want to improve their mental health. King said he sets aside about an hour daily to thoughtfully respond to those who reach out to him.

“I really wanted to create a safe space for men to express their struggles without shame because we need more of that,” he shared during a recent interview with CP24.com.

“I didn’t do this to just run. I wanted to share things that have helped me.”

Life wasn’t always a “jog” in the park for King, who said he, for about a decade, heavily self-medicated with alcohol and hard drugs to dull his emotions and escape reality, at least for a little while.

“My name was synonymous with partying. Sometimes I didn’t even sleep for days,” said King, whose self-destructive behaviour ultimately led him to drop out of Humber College. He was also homeless for about four years.

“(Alcohol and drugs) silenced my mind a bit, so I didn’t have to face and learn from my feelings. … I now know that my sensitives are actually gifts,” King said.

During that time, the relationships with those he cared about the most, his parents and six siblings, became strained.

And while he continued writing and producing music as an independent artist, life in general was a major struggle. King, who has released a song every a week for the last 15 years and currently gets more than a million Spotify streams each month, credits his love for music and his loyal fan base as the reason why he’s still alive to this day.

In 2020, things started to take a turn for the better when he got off hard drugs. Three years ago, King gave up liquor for good.

“I started running the day after I put down alcohol. … I know I needed to replace that behaviour,” he said.

“That’s when I started to face my feelings. Running gave me a space to think and reflect.”

While running on streets and trails in the GTA, King said he started to embrace who he is and accepted that being open and vulnerable were not signs of weakness, but some of his greatest strengths.

Improving his mental health also meant mending broken relationships with his loved ones.

“(Being vulnerable) helped me be a person of service. It helped me learn from my traumas and pain. It helped me find new ways to cope,” he shared.

“Instead of chasing the next thing to numb my feelings, I started feeling the things I was trying to numb.”

King’s newfound hobby eventually turned into a passion as he started running marathons and has even completed a few ultramarathons, which are races longer than 50 kms. His next big event is the Toronto Waterfront Marathon next weekend.

“So many men are suffering in silence.”

Last spring, King decided to act on his long-standing desire to combine his love of running with a cause that is close to his heart: men’s mental health. That’s when he came up with the idea of running 100 marathons in 100 days.

“I felt a deep obligation to raise awareness (about men’s mental heath). … I also wanted to do something that was hard to ignore,” he said.

“So many men are suffering in silence. I wanted to suffer as loudly as I could.”

Running a marathon every day for 100 days was torturous, at times, he admitted.

“The pain, I can’t even describe. Sometimes I couldn’t even lay down or get comfortable, but I know that all pain is temporary, physical and mental,” he said.

“I just really had to break it down to one step at a time every single day, which is a metaphor for life.”

King said to stay motivated, he recited three daily mantras: I can heal from anything. I will never stop growing, and, Life is not happening to me, it’s happening for me.

He also credits the love and support of his fiancé, Ally, for helping him accomplish this extreme challenge.

“I really wanted these runs to reach people who are struggling and show them that it’s OK to not be OK, that there’s a way forward,” King said.

“Mental health struggles are real and they don’t discriminate, everybody goes through tough days, but there’s always hope.”