Why (and how) french singer Rilès ran for 24 hours straight

This weekend, while most people were lounging and enjoying these two days of rest to recharge, the French singer Rilès was engaged in a completely different activity. Far from deck chairs and spas, the performer of Thank God started a long and difficult 24-hour race, motivated by the presence of 3 enormous saws behind him, threatening to finish him off if fatigue took over. However, this athletic performance, held at the heart of the Espace Commines in Paris, was not organized to showcase his endurance. Titled "Survival run" (just like his latest album), the race was thought out in a much deeper way with the goal of sending a message far beyond the athletic sphere.

The start of this endless race was launched on Saturday, February 8, at noon, while the final whistle (in the absence of a finish line) sounded exactly 24 hours later, that is, Sunday, February 9, at noon as well. Of course, the 29-year-old singer, although alone on the treadmill, did not spend these 24 painful hours solo, and was very well surrounded by media, fans, and close ones who came to encourage his achievements. And even though this challenge would be honorable even from a pure sports perspective, one question continues to haunt us: why take on such a project? Well, to denounce our time and the society in which it evolves. To shout out against an industry that has no time for anything, but criticizes everything. The race aimed to put into perspective the strength of the body and mind, but also “the fine line between perseverance and obsession.” Struggling with a shattered mental health, the young singer told Mehdi Maïzi in a podcast a few weeks ago how the industry had driven him into a deep state of despair. Before the release of his latest album also titled "Survival mode", the singer had come up with a dark plan to take his life once it was finished. While the 14 songs on the album were presented as simple components of his next musical project, for the singer, they were actually farewell letters.

In the episode of the podcast Le Code in which he was a guest, Rilès shares his suicide attempt, but more importantly, how, once his head underwater, rocks at his feet and oxygen running out, he had that survival impulse that allowed him to be present and more alive than ever this weekend for his race, not against the clock, but towards life. And what a race it was. After 6 hours, he had covered more than 61km. After 16 hours, he reached 146. By the end of the 24 hours, he had surpassed 200km. Symbolic of the human condition, the challenge represented not only a “perpetual race where progress is just an illusion”, but also the famous saying "walk or die," represented by the saws. While the singer came out of this experience exhausted and drained, he showed that even when hitting rock bottom and gasping for air, one can kick their feet and rise stronger than ever.