Hellah Sidibe: Former MLS player running 3,000 miles from California to New York

Most people who run know it can at times be a painful business - even if you're good at it.

But Hellah Sidibe, a Mali-born former professional footballer, has decided to put himself through pain on an altogether different scale, without even the promise of a souvenir medal.

The 30-year-old, whose footballing career peaked with a spell at MLS side Seattle Sounders, is about halfway through a transcontinental run from California to New York - about 3,200 miles in total, and a feat only about 300 people are thought to have achieved.

"It's painful!" he told BBC Sport from the recreational vehicle that is his home for the duration of the run, currently somewhere in Oklahoma.

So why put himself through it?

'If you get a pair of shoes, you better take care of them'

Sidibe, who moved from West Africa to the United States aged seven when his parents' academic work took them there, says at the time he didn't know sports other than soccer existed.

"As a child in Mali, soccer is a way of life. The only thing that was important to me was kicking a ball and running around," he says.

Hellah Sidibe playing football in Mali and in the US

Sidibe says it is essential for Malian children to have regular tetanus vaccines because it is so common to cut their feet on discarded metal shards. The soles of his own feet are scarred from playing football on gravel or dirt roads.

"Back in Mali, if you get a pair of shoes, you were told you had better take care of them because it could be years before you get another pair," he says.

Consequently he hopes to raise money and awareness for a charity, Soles4Souls, that redistributes unwanted shoes to the millions of people around the world living in poverty without access to any form of footwear.

Children play football in a dried river bed in Mali, West Africa

The footballer who hated to run

The challenge is also rooted in Sidibe's love of running - but it was definitely not love at first sight.

After being awarded a scholarship to play in the top US college division, he later signed a professional contract with MLS side Seattle Sounders.

His highlight, he says, was playing in a pre-season game against his hero Frank Lampard, while the former Chelsea man was at New York City FC.

But even as a pro athlete, running for running's sake was something Sidibe resisted.

"In soccer, it's about the game so you're not only focused on the running," he says.

Sidibe played against his hero Frank Lampard

"But when the coach tells you 'let's start running', your stomach drops - you're scared of the pain you're about to go through."

To tackle his attitude to running head on, Sidibe set himself a relatively easy challenge - running 10 minutes a day for two weeks.

It immediately changed his attitude to running, and he told his girlfriend: "I think I can do this for the rest of my life."

So far Sidibe has been as good as his word. He has kept up his streak of running every single day for almost four years, regardless of the weather.

He has documented his journey and built a loyal following on his YouTube channel (he has almost 250,000 subscribers), which has provided him with steady income and sponsorship from a British fitnesswear brand.

After two years of running every day, he wanted to challenge himself further and looked for something "bigger than me".

Sidibe runs every day, come rain, shine or snow

And so the idea of the transcontinental run was born.

After his start was delayed by 12 months because of the coronavirus pandemic, Sidibe finally set off on 1 March this year from Huntington Beach, near Los Angeles.

His aim is to rack up between 30 and 40 miles a day and reach New York within 100 days, but he is careful to add a cautious "we'll see!" to that timetable.

Imagined attacks - and real ones

Running at altitude combined with injuries in the early stages of his challenge knocked his confidence, and limited his mileage.

"Around day 25, I thought it was over," he said. "I was in so much pain. My knee was locked - I couldn't bend it."

He admits that a physiotherapist would have advised him to rest and recuperate at that point, but there was no stopping.

"I don't care how slow I go, as long as I cover my mileage that day."

His best friend, Garrett Jones (handily a kinesiologist and fitness nutrition specialist), is also on hand to provide daily massages and monitor his food intake: a 100% vegan diet but plenty of carbs.

Running for eight hours, and burning over 4,000 calories a day, takes its toll on Sidibe's mental wellbeing too.

The route Sidibe is taking - from California to New York

"You hallucinate a lot. I have seen snakes and mountain lions that weren't there. I once saw a fluffy dog and thought it was a baby bear. I freaked out thinking the mama bear was going to be near."

Most terrifyingly, and sadly not a hallucination, Sidibe was also chased by a woman threatening him with a knife.

Luckily, he was unharmed, and his girlfriend Alexa Torres, who was close by in a car, was able to take him to the local police station to report the incident. He has no idea why the woman behaved as she did and brushed it off as "scary but we're OK".

Now, 50 days in, Sidibe is battling with headwinds, cross winds and the undulating, (and sometimes slightly uninspiring) Oklahoma landscape with the prospect of Missouri, Illinios, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, a quick dart into Maryland and finally New York ahead of him.

"I'm always thinking about what the finish is going to look like. Everybody who I spoke to told me to not think about it but for me it actually helps. I get excited and it helps me work harder to get there."

Vegan junk food and a fruity cocktail...

Sidibe has previously completed the New York City Marathon but has set his sights on London, Berlin and Boston too... once he's recovered from his transcontinental run

So what will arriving in New York City feel like after 3,200 miles?

"I keep thinking about eating as much vegan junk food as possible after I finish," he says. "I don't really drink alcohol but I'm dreaming about a cocktail called a Bay Breeze - it's fruity!

"And I am going to sleep, and not wake up until my body wants to wake up."

How about a run to maintain the almost four-year streak?

"That's guaranteed. No more than two miles though... maybe a little more, who knows?"

Follow Hellah's run via his Instagram - @HellahGood9

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