CHICAGO — It’s 5:30 a.m. on a Friday morning and Andre Davis is stretching under the orange glow of a South Michigan Avenue streetlamp at the south end of Grant Park. He’s one of only a handful of people outside that early. In the darkness before dawn, he’s ready to begin doing what he does every morning: chasing daylight.
“Living in the moment and running toward the sun,” Davis said.
Wearing a weighted vest, and an anguished expression, he is putting himself through a punishing workout. He said he knows the gift of another sunrise is never guaranteed.
“I have a family history of heart disease, diabetes and cancer in my family,” he said. “My father died of heart disease at 39. My mother died of cancer at 52.”
So, the 59-year-old grandfather views exercise as a critical defense against disease – a sort of medicine for the body and the mind.
“I don’t feel 59,” he said. “I feel like I’m 25. Age is just a number. Just go out and do something.”
He ran more than a mile to the Art Institute, where he stopped to do pushups, jumping jacks, bear crawls and burpees.
Just as he began planking – a static abdominal exercise – the skies opened, and he was pummeled with rain. Soaking wet, he ran sprints under the L tracks on Wabash.
Davis’s workouts are solitary and severe, and he shares videos of them on social media, providing a measure of accountability and a forum to spread his faith in fitness.
Find him on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/bestshape53
“It keeps me on top of my game as far as work,” he said. “So, it’s basically a habit. I do it seven days a week.”
His Instagram posts have gone viral, garnering millions of views. A post from a lakefront run on the Fourth of July has been viewed more than 3.7 million times so far.
Other videos show him working out in front of Chicago landmarks like the Walter Payton statue at Soldier Field, the gates of Chinatown, or the General Logan Monument in Grant Park.
“Different spots, different locations and capture the vitality of Chicago, that’s what I love about it,” he said.
But his favorite location is the Art institute under the glare of the lion statues.
“I like the lions,” he said, “because it’s ‘heart of a lion,’ you know?”
His social media followers call him ‘Chicago’s David Goggins’ – for his resemblance to the retired Navy Seal, best-selling author, and ultra-athlete known for preaching that hard work is its own reward.
“People compare me to David Goggins and I’m impressed,” he said,
In pushing himself, Davis is pulling others toward a healthier lifestyle.
“I have a lot of friends that aren’t in the best of health,” he said, “I try to motivate people as best as I can. I seek perfection every day in what I do. It’s not so much how you look. It’s how you feel.”