When it comes to album promotion, running for 24 hours on a treadmill with rotating rotating blades behind you might be one of the most extreme methods ever attempted. But French rapper Rilès (Rilès Kacimi) took the term survival mode to a whole new level to promote his latest album.
With nearly two million YouTube subscribers, Rilès wanted a unique way to combine his passions for running, music and art. So he set up a glass case in the Espace Commines in Paris, stepped onto a treadmill and ran for 24 hours straight—all while having three rotating blades behind him.
The challenge began at noon on Feb. 8 and wrapped up exactly 24 hours later. By the end, Rilès had covered 205.21 kilometres (127.5 miles), with more than 100,000 fans watching the live stream. And to make things even more extreme? He ran without any music or entertainment. Only the ominous presence of the three rotating blades, and noise of his own two feet.
Many viewers wondered how Rilès managed to run non-stop for an entire day (without going to the bathroom). The secret? A black-curtain crew would occasionally surround him with a blanket, allowing him to grab a bottle and take care of business—without taking too much time off the treadmill.
While Rilès is best known for his music, he’s also a serious runner, boasting a 2:55 marathon best, which he set in Florence, Italy, in 2023.
Though he didn’t set out to break the official Guinness World Record for the longest 24-hour treadmill run—(264.52 km, set by Norwegian ultra-runner Bjørn Tore Kronen Taranger in 2018)—his feat was more about pushing things to the extreme rather than records. The buzz surrounding the challenge was the perfect high-energy promo for his album, SURVIVAL MODE, which dropped last month.
Honestly, we’d love to see more artists take on insane running stunts to promote their albums—but maybe next time, without the blades.
