In a small storefront near Union Square, a man is running. And not just for fitness.
Paul Johnson, a 31-year-old Navy veteran turned ultrarunner, is currently attempting to run 700 miles in seven days on a treadmill with the goal of raising $700,000 for Bronx Burners, a nonprofit run club supporting youth mental health and mentorship in New York City.
The project, streaming live 24/7 and unfolding in full public view, is brutal by design. “My life sucks right now. I hate this,” Johnson says in one moment captured on video. “But if I don’t keep going, there’s gonna be a lot of people that are pretty let down.”
Johnson is a man familiar with pain, and with using it as fuel.
After serving seven years as a Navy officer, including stints overseas and stateside, he found himself grappling with depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Running, he says, became his survival mechanism.
He ran his first marathon in 2022, qualified for Boston with a sub-three finish, then completed his first 100-miler just five months later. From there, he ran across the country in a transcontinental effort for veteran mental health. And now he’s deep into his most intense challenge yet.
“I’m probably 5% confident I’ll hit 700 miles,” he said, not joking. “But we’re aiming high. If I fail, I’ll fail forward.”
The effort isn’t just about setting a record. It’s about spotlighting the work of Bronx Burners, a local running collective turned nonprofit that’s quietly changing lives in the South Bronx.
Founded by Shaquille “Shaq” Roberts and Rob Dalto, the group started with just a few people showing up to a track near Yankee Stadium. It has since grown into a 150-person community that serves runners of all ages, many of them discovering organized sport for the first time.
Since becoming a nonprofit, Bronx Burners has awarded over $100,000 in academic scholarships, sent kids to summer running camps, and provided one-on-one mentorship for students navigating life, school, and sport.
“Running was my equalizer growing up,” said Roberts, who survived a traumatic house fire as a child. “It was the one place where I felt seen.”
For Johnson, whose own battles with alcohol and depression intensified during his Navy years, the partnership with Bronx Burners is personal.
“When I stopped drinking, I needed something to keep me grounded,” he said. “Running did that for me. It gave me structure, gave me a goal. And it helped pull me out of some really dark places.”
That’s what makes this challenge so different from a typical endurance stunt. Yes, it’s a record attempt. Yes, the numbers are wild — 700 miles, 100+ hours, nearly three marathons a day. But at its core, it’s a deeply human attempt to show what healing looks like in motion, and what happens when you put community at the center of it.
At one point during the livestream, a young girl from Bronx Burners showed up to run a couple of miles beside him. “That’s the stuff that keeps me going,” Johnson said. “She shows up, I can’t quit. I can’t let her beat me.”
Chubbies — the brand known more for its retro shorts than endurance sports — is documenting the effort in a daily YouTube docuseries, which has featured appearances from Bronx Burners athletes, students, and NYC locals. It’s funny, emotional, and deeply real.
The team hopes the $700,000 fundraising goal can help launch a permanent community center, expand youth programming, and provide long-term infrastructure in the Bronx. It’s a moonshot, but then again, so is 700 miles on a treadmill.
“Most people wouldn’t even think of doing this,” Johnson said. “But someone in the UK set a treadmill record, and that inspired me. Now maybe someone else will see this and go do something incredible too.”
He pauses, wipes his face, and steps back onto the belt.
“The worst thing that can happen is you fail. But then you get up and try again.”
