He ran 154 miles in 4 days to raise money for hospitalized kids — and to challenge himself

Imagine running 154 miles in four days. Now, imagine doing it not just for the challenge but for a cause close to your heart. This week’s Joy Beat honoree did just that.

Meet David Filar, a 33-year-old man from Worcester. He took on a massive cross-state run from the New York state border all the way back to Boston’s Martin Park. Averaging 40 miles a day, he’s also raising funds to purchase safe, developmental and — of course — fun toys for kids hospitalized at the UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center for the holidays.

Filar joined GBH’s All Things Considered host Arun Rath to share more about his expedition. What follows is a lightly edited transcript.

Arun Rath: This was quite the challenge. Before we get into the backstory, we’ve got to check in on this first. How are you feeling? Are you sore?

David Filar: That’s a great first question. I feel pretty good! I honestly felt like I could go run another 30 to 40 miles. My energy was OK. My legs are a little sore, but no different than they were on day two, three or four of the run. Today, I think “tired” is the word that I would use — just from exhaustion — but I’m not overly sore or anything like that.

I’m still running a minimum of 5k, or 3.1 miles, every single day for the rest of the year, that’s a goal I set on January 1st. So outside of the 154 miles that were run a few days ago, I still have to run every single day.

Rath: Wow. So, when covering that kind of distance — roughly a marathon and a half every day — how do those days break down? Do you run all day? Do you take breaks?

Filar: Yeah. We wake up at 5 a.m. I would move around, I’d stretch — and then at 7:15, we were starting every single day. And we’d run for about three-and-a-half to four hours, depending on the terrain. Then, we would break for lunch for about 20 to 30 minutes, and then we’d start the back half of the day. We’d, hopefully, finish around 3:30, 4:00 or 4:30. We took breaks where we needed.

My crew — my girlfriend and the two people I had who are filming a documentary for me — were excellent sources of energy whenever I needed them. We would stop, get rehydrated, we’d eat snacks, whatever it was. They were a tremendous support system to have.

Photo by Sam Wagner and Owen Zubek

Rath: Clearly, you’re a serious runner, but can you put this particular challenge in the context of what you already are doing, and what inspired you to take on this particular challenge?

Filar: Well, I would say that I’m actually not a serious runner. I’m actually more of somebody who — and this kind of edges into the “why”: Lately, I’ve been super curious about how far I can push myself mentally, physically and emotionally.

This idea came up: Is it possible for me, David Filar, a 33-year-old, to run 150+ miles? That curiosity was then broken down. It’s like, “OK, well, that number is so tremendous. How do we break it down so it’s practical and it’s digestible?”

That looks like exactly how we just talked about — it’s, “OK. Let’s try to do five miles an hour.” And then that’s broken out to 20 miles in the morning, 20 miles in the afternoon. OK, it doesn’t seem too bad, with a little bit of a break in between. I think, fundamentally, when you break something down like that, it becomes a lot easier. That, for me, was super, super helpful in discovering how far I could push myself.

We can definitely get into the aspect of giving back to the youth and raising, I think, we’re close to $11,000 for UMass Children’s. So yeah, those are a couple of notions of the “why,” but primarily, it’s a matter of self-development and figuring out how far we can push ourselves. How can we become comfortable in the uncomfortable?

You know, I would recommend anybody listening to this to try to pursue something of that nature, whether it’s saying “hi” to a stranger every day or buying somebody a cup of coffee or joining a book club or whatever it is. Something that really makes you feel uncomfortable because you’ll never know what you’ll fall in love with.

Rath: Let’s talk more about that giving back that you were just talking about. Raising funds for UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center is obviously deeply meaningful, especially around the holidays. But I also understand that this is close to your heart as well.

Filar: Yeah, definitely. I mean, I grew up in and out of different medical centers. I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease when I was in fifth grade. I missed about half of the entire school year. Lately, it’s been under control.

As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned to consume healthier foods and different options that better support my digestion and things like that. That — in parallel with healthier habits, such as exercise — really, really goes a long way.

And, that really, [in] correlation with memories of impact for our youth — all of us listening, our adolescent years in our childhood are so impactful — so I think if we could do anything to give back to children who are going through a tough time. I don’t think anybody wants to either be in a hospital as a child during the holidays or have a child who has to go through the holidays in a hospital.

So if we’re able to raise a couple of dollars to support some children’s toys and bring some joy and a smile to somebody’s face during this holiday season — I mean, I think that’s just the greatest thing that we can do.

Photo by Sam Wagner and Owen Zubek

Rath: That’s just brilliant. Running this amount, this kind of a challenge — you were talking about this a bit — is not just a physical challenge. You know, there’s a mental aspect to it. How are the ways you get through those moments when you might be feeling like you’re hitting a wall?

Filar: That’s a tremendous question. During the four days, I never hit a wall. I was just so energized by life in itself and experiencing the different terrains and the different mountains and — the snow in Becket, Mass., to the really crazy hills around the Worcester area, which were really tough on the body.

But mentally, I felt really good throughout. It really motivated me to keep pushing and become better and better every single day. I mean, I got faster every single day; my times went down, which is kind of crazy. The toughest day so far was the day after.

You know, I think all of us, when we achieve something — whether that’s at work in our daily practice or in a relationship — there’s always the really big high that happens. And then, there’s the downfall, so mentally, that was a really tough day for me of like, “Wow. You really did something that you’ve been working towards for five months. Five months of training. You finally did it! It’s done!” And it’s like, “Now what?” I don’t think that’s talked about enough, just from a mental perspective.

It’s amazing what we’ve been able to do, but now it’s kind of this moment of discovery of: OK, not only “What’s next?” but “How do we just sit in the moment and appreciate what we accomplished?”

Rath: Hopefully, times like these and talking about it will help because what you talked about — bringing joy to the kids, bring joy and gifts — you’re kind of like Santa right now.

Filar: A modern-day Santa Claus, for sure, that happens to run a little too far.

Rath: Is there a moment or memory from this journey that stands out to you that really brought you joy?

Filar: I think just sharing the different parts of the run with different people. Throughout [the run], friends and family joined along, whether it was for running a mile or, you know, I had a friend who biked 10 miles with me. Just having a community join, to be a part of it in even the smallest amount, was really special for me because we’re spending so much time together.

I’m honored and thrilled that my body held up. I was able to see the entire length of Massachusetts — seeing towns that I would have never seen before, popping into coffee shops, whether it’s to use the restroom or actually get a coffee in these really small, quaint towns along the way.

I’m going to always remember those moments. For those, you can’t put a price on that.

If you’d like to nominate someone or something for the Joy Beat, leave us a voicemail at (617) 300-BEAT [2328].