Back in March, we learned that famed DJ Diplo had run the Los Angeles Marathon in under four hours while using a rather unconventional supplement: LSD. Now, the musician and producer has shared more about why he ran under the influence and the experience.
Speaking to Published: Apr 26, 2023 11:34 AM EDT, the 44-year-old DJ, whose real name is Thomas Wesley Pentz, talked about how it wasn’t the first time he had used the drug when working out instead of other substances like caffeine.
“Yeah, I did acid. I didn’t trip out while I was running. I put it in my water bottle,” he said in the interview. “I’ll put it like this: I take acid a lot when I’m working, and when I’m waking up. I don’t want to do too much caffeine, and I don’t want to drink alcohol, so I put a little bit, a little drop sometimes.”
The Major Lazer hitmaker said he took half a tab of LSD at the marathon and that it and the other runners’ energy motivated him to run at his fastest pace ever. “You also have all these runners around you, so your energy’s there. I was running a seven-minute mile for the first eight miles, which is crazy,” Diplo said.
He added that the first two hours of the race went by quickly, mainly due to the drug. “Maybe acid has a different effect on people, but for me, those first two hours, which is usually the scariest part of a marathon, just went by so quickly,” he explained.
Although the producer says he didn’t experience any hallucinations during the race, the drug gave him a new perspective on running. “If you’re doing something with acid, and you’re not sitting around, I think that it’s like putting stereo headphones on, as opposed to mono. You see some colors different,” he said. “There weren’t giant lizards jumping out of the sky. It’s not like that. In small doses, it just gives you a fresher perspective. It’s like wearing glasses sometimes. These things are clear.”
Faith Kipyegon Just Misses 3K World Record Oprah’s PR is on the line, you’ll take any possible strategic advantage you can get. No word yet if Diplo plans to take on another marathon or if he’ll be sticking with acid as his fueling plan.
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and Condé Nast Traveler Allie Ostrander’s Emotional Struggle at USAs TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
