90 Marathons in 90 Days with Charles Costa
The Lemons team recently sat down with Charles Costa, an adventurer, runner, musician, and mental health advocate, to discuss his ambitious 90 marathons in 90 days challenge. This summer, Charles, formerly known as King Charles, is taking on the challenge of a lifetime: running from Canada to Mexico down the Pacific Crest Trail, completing 90 marathons in 90 days.
With nine months of intense planning and training, Charles is set out to push his physical and mental limits. We delve into Costa's rigorous training regimen, which has taken him from the mountains of Switzerland to the heat of Menorca, all in preparation for the diverse terrains and challenges of the trail. He shares the profound impact running has had on his life, particularly in managing the lasting effects of a traumatic brain injury he suffered a decade ago. Costa opens up about how both running and singing has become a meditative process, helping him untangle his thoughts and emotions. He is relaunching his music career and will be releasing new singles starting this September, providing a soundtrack to his run.
Through this incredible challenge, Costa is running to support the invaluable work carried out by The Jed Foundation, a nonprofit that protects emotional health and prevents suicide for US teens and young adults, and James’ Place, a UK based charity dedicated to suicide prevention for men.
We hope you enjoy reading our conversation with Charles!
Tell us about your “90 marathons in 90 days” challenge.
“Probably about nine months ago I had the idea of running 90 marathons in 90 days. I can't remember exactly where the idea came from, but I thought the Pacific Crest Trail had to be the place for my next adventure. I started looking into it and it was four and a half thousand kilometers from start to finish. Some people do part of it, some people do the whole thing, and I thought, I want to do the whole thing. Some people go north to south, some people go south to north, and it gave me a little bit more time to prepare everything if I went north to south. So that's why I'm now heading up to the Canadian border. I've planned to do 90 marathons in 90 days to cover that four and a half thousand kilometers. The mathematics on that equation are a little bit loose, so there's going to be a few miles left to wander, even if I have already finished those 90 marathons. So I'm open to a little bit of mystery.
It's been nine months of planning and training daily. To now be in the USA is incredibly exciting. I can't really believe it. I probably will only believe that it's happening when I put on my shoes and backpack and head out onto the open trail.”
What has the training process been like leading up to this challenge?
“I haven't been completely off training for a while. I've been maintaining as much of a staple fitness as I can, and it's gradually increased more and more as time goes by. I take one day off per week, run lots of hills and interval training, practice different distances, and my main priority is just being on my feet the whole time. I spent a bit of time in Switzerland training in the mountains there, which is an incredible, beautiful place. It’s going to be very mountainous, so I'm going to have to really suck up all of the mountain magic I can find within me.
I went to Menorca in Spain for some heat training, which was fun and quite barren, there's no water there. I had to carry vast amounts of water, which I think will get me prepared for the deserts and carrying a heavy load.”
What has been your personal journey with mental health?
“About 10 years ago, I had a traumatic brain injury. I had a skiing accident in Austria while on a skiing holiday with my family. One moment I was doing jumps in the snow park, having a fun afternoon, then the next moment I was being airlifted to a local hospital with a severe concussion that turned out to be a brain trauma. I was put in a coma for a few days and spent some months in a very delicate, recuperative state. This was a while ago when there wasn't much of a conversation about brain health, brain awareness, mental awareness, or mental health. It was a very confusing time.
In one way, I recovered very well and the swelling in my brain went down. I could function properly after some months, but even 10 years on, I still haven't shaken the lasting effects of the trauma, which are very much psychological. It's something I have to manage and deal with daily. In the immediate aftermath of the accident when I was recovering at home in London, I would wake up in a state of terror and was just beside myself with fear. At nothing in particular, I was just boiling mad.
Running was something I just had to do to get out of my house. I had to move my legs and just start moving somewhere. I gathered a real kind of dependency on that sort of discipline. It started as a recovery mechanism, a kind of healing where I had to be moving somewhere and escape. I think what is wonderful about running is that the process of it is a very healing thing and it's a very easily accessible remedy.
Running really untangled my brain. What I feel like my issue with anxiety is, is that you lose complete perspective on everything and you lose an understanding of what's real and what's not. It gets into your gut and you don't have any real engagement with truth and reality. I think it's devastating how it can fester. But running really just untangles it and gives you a release. Plus, I’ve found that it's an immediate thing, which was so wonderful. I needed that and I still do, so I’ve stuck at it.”
How has running supported you in your mental health?
“The interesting thing about running is the beauty of its rhythm. Rhythm is one of the most beautiful and rich experiences—where does it come from? It's like gravity. The rhythm of running is part of the whole meditative process. When I've been running long distances, things come to the forefront of your mind—memories, emotions, smells, and nostalgia. Beautiful moments just surface, and you can't really explain where they come from. You get a sense of something that reminds you of... something you aren't actually smelling but are remembering. Some of that comes from the meditative rhythm of your feet hitting the ground over a long period of time. It's in the rhythm, it's in the gravity. It's fabulous.”
Running 90 marathons in 90 days is an incredible challenge. How do you continue to stay motivated when feeling tired or unmotivated?
“There's a kind of equation between your muscles, your brain, and your conscious mind. Between these three elements, you have to figure out what needs to fire up to make you actually get out of bed and start moving. Usually, your conscious mind just has to make it happen. Once you're moving, you can keep moving. Your muscles are always more capable than they feel, and your brain acts as the transmitter of information from your muscles to your mind. I'm trying to figure out the kind of energy release. It seems mysterious to me. Another motivator for this challenge is that some people have donated money per marathon, which is another incentive to get up and keep going. Charity is foremost important. To tell the truth, I don't really know, but I'm going to have to do it. I'm going to have to get up and keep going. There are some ridiculous days of elevation that will be really challenging, and I don't even know what it's going to feel like. I've never camped for this amount of time, but I'm going to have to dig deep and think about something to boost my energy.”
What is one piece of advice for someone who may be struggling with their mental health?
“I would say, talk to people—talk to your friends, your family, people who love you and want to hear from you. You're not burdening them. But that is difficult, especially for men. I've always found that very difficult. I would also say, run. Get outside and run. You don't have to run far. Singing is another big thing for me. Lifting your voice is a passionate expulsion of air and energy. You can sing to nothing, to nobody, and there is such a release. There's a connection to your spirit, your essence. Singing is a passionate release of energy. If you can do that with other people, amazing. If you can do that in the shower, just do it. Fill your lungs and sing your heart out. You can also try to sing while you're running because you won't have much space to think about anything else. It's all about getting your heart to work as hard as it can, getting your heart and lungs to just heave, to remind yourself that you're living. That's always been massively important to me. It won't change your life, and it won't solve your problems, but it's something you can do daily.”
Be sure to follow Charles on his journey on his social media pages:
Instagram: @CHARLESCOSTAOFFICIAL
TikTok: @CHARLESCOSTAOK
YouTube: @COSTACHARLES
