Season Two, Episode 11: It’s All About the People: Hellah Sidibe on Running, Purpose and the Power of Going Together

Hellah Sidibe has run every day for more than nine years. He’s completed ultramarathons, raced 100-milers and built a global following his run from Los Angeles to New York City. 

But ask him what has made the journey meaningful, and his answer has surprisingly little to do with running. 

It’s about what running has allowed him to discover about himself, and the people he’s met along the way.

The Tailspin:

Born in Mali, Hellah grew up playing the sport and eventually earned a scholarship to play at the University of Massachusetts. His goal was to become a professional soccer player, and for a time, he got the chance to pursue it.

But when that path didn’t unfold the way he hoped, he needed something else.

“I just ran into running, even though I didn’t like it because I just wanted to do something that I was in control of and say, ‘I’m tough,’” he shares.

The idea was remarkably simple: run for 10 minutes a day for two weeks.

It was attainable. There was no coach yelling at him, no team depending on him and no pressure to perform.

Then something unexpected happened. He started to love it.

As two weeks became months and months became years, Hellah began seeing running differently. With each step, he made note of the simple things he took for granted.

“I started seeing running as a privilege,” he says, sharing how his neighborhood runs would often expose him to those less fortunate.

“I started feeling this kind of sadness. I told myself, ‘I’m running for those who can’t,’” he says. “I have privilege, so I’m going to make sure I respect that because you probably would do anything to be in my position right now.”

The shift from running for himself to thinking about what he could do for others eventually inspired a much bigger idea.

“I want to run across America,” he decides. “If I’m running every single day, if it takes five years, eventually I’m going to connect coast to coast.”

The idea was ambitious, and admittedly, Hellah didn’t fully understand what he was getting himself into.

He took the first step anyway.

The Work:

Hellah had already learned some lessons the hard way. 

After spontaneously deciding to run 50 miles in 2018, he finished severely depleted and sick. Only afterward did he begin learning about ultrarunning, fueling and the intense preparation required to cover extreme distances.

Still, he believed he could cross the country.

With his partner Lex and best friend Garrett supporting him, Hellah set out from Los Angeles toward New York City.

They learned as they went: Routes. Elevation. Fueling. Shoes. Recovery. Where to park the RV. When to keep pushing and when to stop for the day.

“It was really rough because we were all doing this for the first time and I didn’t know what I was doing,” he reveals. “I was learning on the go and I got better as I went on.”

But the run was never supposed to be only about testing himself. Hellah wanted the miles to mean something.

That led him to Soles4Souls.

Growing up in Mali, Hellah understood what it meant for a pair of shoes to be valuable. New shoes might be reserved for holidays. Kids played soccer barefoot. And sometimes, when you outgrew a pair, you didn’t know when the next one would come.     

Hellah partnered with S4S to collect shoes and raise donations over the 84 days it took him to run 3,061 miles from Los Angeles to New York City. His experience taught him about endurance, preparation and the fine line between confidence and ego.

“I’ve always believed that I can do anything I put my mind to.”

But the run also taught him that believing in yourself doesn’t mean assuming you know everything. Now, Hellah actively seeks out people who have more experience than he does.

“I don’t want to make mistakes and the way to not make mistakes, to minimize the mistake, is going to people who are at a different level than you.”

It’s an entrepreneurial spirit and philosophy that also shapes how he approaches his growing social media platform.

Despite years of running experience and an audience that looks to him for advice, Hellah is careful not to present himself as something he’s not.

“For me, I’m never an expert. It’s like, I’m just sharing with you what works for me.”

That authenticity has become part of what makes his growing brand — HellahGood with almost 250K followers — resonate with his audience.

The Tailwind: 

Hellah isn’t creating a life for social media. He’s just living his life, and inviting people to come along for the run.

That distinction matters because Hellah never started running with the intention of becoming a content creator or sponsored athlete.

For the first several years, in fact, he made nothing from it.

“I didn’t make a dime for almost four years,” he says. “I was still working full time when I started — 40 hours a week training people in soccer on the side.”

But he kept running because he loved it.

Eventually, the audience grew. Brands began paying attention. Sponsorships followed, including a long-term relationship with Hoka and work with brands including BPN, Apple, Red Bull and GoPro.

Today, Hellah describes his life simply: 

“I’m living the dream,” he admits, quick to recognize why that dream became possible.

“I said, without the people, there’s no HellahGood. And that’s a fact.”

It’s fitting that it’s the people — those who followed him and who he encountered along the way — also became one of the defining features of his run across America.

Beginning in New Mexico, Hellah says there wasn’t a single day when someone didn’t show up to run alongside him. Some drove hours just to share a few miles.

On a difficult day, a new runner could bring new energy. Conversation could turn 10 exhausting miles into 10 miles shared with someone else.

And behind all of it was Lex — the person who encouraged Hellah to share his journey in the first place. She picked up the camera, helped find Soles4Souls and drove alongside him at five miles per hour for thousands of miles.

“If Lex wasn’t part of this, there’d be no HellahGood, 100%,” he says. “No chance.”

When asked what he hopes to remember 20 years from now, Hellah’s answer brings the entire journey full circle:

Not the races. Not the sponsorships. Not the house or the dream car he just purchased.

It’s the people.

Hellah connects that realization to the African proverb: “When you want to go fast, you go alone. But when you want to go far, you go together.”

Nine years into a running streak, after thousands upon thousands of miles, Hellah is still moving forward. 

But perhaps the biggest lesson isn’t how far one person can run. It’s how much farther the journey can take you when you don’t take it alone.

“All these material things, that’s just a cherry or icing on the cake — because what makes it really joyful is when you get to share it with people. I think the whole journey has been all about the people.”

To hear more from Hellah Sidibe about his nine-year running streak, crossing America for Soles4Souls, learning from failure, building an authentic social media presence and finding purpose through the people who share the journey, listen to the full episode of re:Purpose with Buddy Teaster.