A 154 Miles

Andrew Johnson

On Friday, November 29th, 2024, Worcester resident David Filar will be running down a dream.

The dream is to complete a four-day road run from West Stockbridge, MA all the way to Martin’s Park in Boston, which is located in the Fort Point area of the Seaport District. The pacing requires nearly 40 miles of running per day, with short pit stops planned in Huntington, Palmer, and Shrewsbury. David’s objective is to raise awareness and funds to be used to purchase toys for children who will be spending the holidays at the UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center. The run, sponsored by Grillo’s Pickles, PYNRS, Veefriends, Puma, and, of course, UMass Memorial Hospital, will also be chronicled by a documentary crew that will follow him across the commonwealth.

I recently spoke with David who was able to provide insight on his inspiration for undertaking this challenge, his method of preparation, and his goals.

“Over the past couple of years I’ve been on a mission to discover what my personal limits are physically, mentally, and emotionally,” he said. “All of us live with so much untapped potential because we give up as soon as we experience slight discomfort. What better way to figure out what we can endure than a 154 mile run?!”

“Secondarily, our adolescent years can deeply impact the rest of our lives. There’s very few things worse than being a child and having to spend the holidays inside a hospital. So I figured this is a way we would be able to bring a ton of smiles and happy memories to kids who face challenging circumstances.”

David has lived in Worcester for nine years, and during that time, he has seen the significant local impact of the UMass Memorial Children’s Medical Center and how difficult the jobs are for those who work there. This, he said, is just one way for him to give back to the city he considers home. He acknowledged that it will not be easy, but he has evolved his mindset to prevent overthinking the difficulties of a sweeping commitment such as this.

“Honestly, I don’t think about the challenges,” David confessed. “I know what needs to be done and I’ll control what I can control – that’s the food, nutrition, my crew, and friends around me. The weather, conditions, temperature – all of that doesn’t matter. And if something does come my way, it’s an easy solution: One foot in front of the next. It’s cliche and mundane but it’s the absolute truth. When you strip away the large task down to something that’s not daunting, one more step is very achievable.”

In preparation for this, David made a promise to himself. “At the beginning of 2024 I set a goal to run a minimum of 5km (3.1 miles) every single day,” he stated with pride. “Now it’s routine. When you start holding yourself accountable, life gets a lot easier because you stop making excuses.”

At the time I spoke with David in early November he was almost done with a 76-mile run week, which is equivalent to nearly three marathons and 76 more miles than I’ve run in the past week. That intense training has surely taken a toll on his body, though it has not slowed him down one iota.

“I’ve experienced all sorts of bodily pain from knee pain to achilles pain to shoulder pain,” he admitted. “At this point I’m thankful for my rest and recovery and feeling good being 20 or so days out.”

He said that he has learned a lot about nutrition throughout this process, which is crucial. He now has a greater understanding of how proteins, carbohydrates, and electrolytes interact within his body to provide necessary energy and fuel.

“I literally eat when I run now,” he noted.

David has drawn on his own experiences as a designer and creator as he prepares for this endeavor. Throughout the years he has learned a lot about himself and how his craft has shaped his own personal philosophies.

“The more my career has progressed,” he explained, “the more I’ve honed in on a personal mantra that I try and practice as often as possible – ‘Create to inspire’. [With] everything I create, whether a professional project or building a relationship, there’s an underlying root to inspire someone positively. The world is abundantly yours. And sometimes all someone needs is one message, one instagram story, or one wild human to run across a state, to show you that you can do this.”

By the time you’ve read this article, it’s possible that David will be in the midst of this journey. Perhaps it will have already been completed. In any case, he hopes that this run will inspire others to push their bodies and their efforts to help others, and he has a message for those who doubt themselves.

“Stop limiting yourself. You’re capable of incredible things. You just need to take one step every day and it’ll compound into a mile, and then 10 miles, and then 100.”

If you would like to take your first step to make a contribution to the UMass Children’s Medical Center via David’s mission, his Just Giving page is accepting donations.