Running and drumming overlap in more ways than one. Practice, rhythm, and tempo all play crucial roles in both; the former creates blisters on your feet, while the latter makes blisters on your hands. All this common ground isn’t lost on Travis Barker, Blink-182 drummer and pop-punk’s figurehead in demand. He initially got into running because he wanted to be around for his children for as long as possible. Now it’s a daily practice that has blossomed into a beloved hobby, and as of last year, the opportunity to host 5Ks in various cities. Run Travis Run encourages participants to join Barker himself for a 3.1-mile run while benefiting Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), a humanitarian nonprofit focused on storm relief and preparation for climate-based disasters, such as hurricanes and wildfires.
As both a drummer and runner myself, I called Barker to discuss why he enjoys running, how he got the idea to start the Run Travis Run events, how he maintains his cardio routine while on tour, the commonalities that drumming and running share, and more.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
Tell me how you first got into running. What was the catalyst?
I just got into running when I found out I was going to be a father for the first time, and I had this overwhelming desire to be better and to be healthier, and that was the spark that led to eating right, to stop drinking, stop smoking, and it led to a better lifestyle. It helped me balance out some of the bad stuff I was doing at the time and helped me sober up. I felt like I was getting closer and closer to being the person I wanted to be, which was a good, healthy father for my son who was about to be born, and I wanted to be a father that could play sports with him, or run with him, or skateboard with him, and, ultimately, live a long life with him. I just left the house, laced up some bands, and ran to the freeway and back. I didn’t really know what I was doing, and I didn’t really need to know what I was doing. God gave me running. I could just go run. So that started being my regimen: run to the freeway and back every day. I wanted to be in shape, and this was the first and easiest way I knew how.
When you’re on tour, what does your routine usually look like? Do you take a treadmill around with you, or do you try to find a park somewhere?
My favorite is running outside. Sometimes, it just depends. If I’m at a venue and there’s nowhere that I can run, I have a treadmill that I think goes up to, like, 7.6 miles per hour. So I’ll go on that and get my mileage in for the day. I walk for three miles every morning, regardless of what’s happening. I’ll wake up early and just knock that out and prepare for the day ahead. It’s kind of my routine, and then I’ll hit a workout. It’s kind of iffy if I can do circuit training or resistance training on show days because I feel like my arms are just at capacity.
As far as the Run Travis Run events go, how did you get the idea to start those?
My goal every day is to run three miles before showtime. So I was doing it. I had the idea, ‘Well, why don’t I do it with people who also love to run and touch base with that community of people?’ Then I figured out a way to partner with CORE and give back. It was a no-brainer for me, and we threw our first one last year. Originally, I was going to the Boys and Girls Club and donating in every city we went to, but CORE figured out what every city needs. Instead of me blindly doing it with my eyes closed and trying to give back, CORE really helped figure out things for those in need, like storm relief.
Also being a drummer, I feel like there’s some things that intersect with running, like the rhythm and the tempo and whatnot. Where do they coincide for you?
If I can find the flow state where I’m not thinking, then that’s the best show or the best run. For me, especially on tour, playing is one thing, and it’s very intense, and running is my escape, but it also helps me. I have to run. I have to jump rope in order to be able to play the way I want to play, and whatever comes to my head that I want to try and do for how long, I pretty much can do because I train every day and I work out every day. Some people look at it like it’s grueling, it’s painful. It’s all the things that I practice to be good at. I know it might be the hardest part of my day, but I’d rather initiate it. I’d rather start my day like that and run toward those things then have those things creep up on me. Running has been that for me. I love challenging myself, and I love the hard workouts. I love being sore. I love the blisters that come with playing drums and the bloody hands. I love the blisters that come with running. They go hand in hand, and I feel like they both train me to be a better person, drummer, and runner.
There are times when I get up for a run at 5 and I come back and it’s 7:30 and come and wake my wife up: ‘I ran a half-marathon.’ She’s like, ‘Oh my gosh. Who does that?’ And I was like, ‘Me! I do that!’ It does take a certain person that’s disciplined. 250-mile, you know, ultra-marathons, I can’t even imagine, but I do understand it at a smaller, less intense level, why people do it. I do love it, and it does make me feel better.
What would you tell somebody who wants to get into running but maybe feels a little daunted by it?
That’s sort of why my run club exists: to get people that may have been discouraged or don’t want to exercise or are afraid of exercising. You could come walk three miles, come jog three miles. Come do whatever you want for three miles. I felt the same way for forever. I’m not really an athlete or a jock or whatever. But I can still love running. Like we spoke about earlier, it’s the one thing no one needs to teach you. You don’t need any fancy gear. I didn’t have running shoes up until a year and a half ago. It was more about figuring it out. I’m probably still learning how to run correctly, like no one’s ever shown me how to run. But that’s the beautiful thing about it. It’s very DIY, and it has become something that’s meditative and therapeutic for me. There’s nothing else that gives me that runner’s high.
I know you’re on tour and super busy, so I don’t want to take up too much more of your time, but I do want to know: What is your favorite thing about running?
My favorite thing about running? Well, I love everywhere running takes me, whether I’m in New York and I’m running on trails, or in the middle of nowhere, or if I’m in South Carolina and I’m staying close to a beach, and I get to go run on the beach. I love everywhere running has taken me. I love all the people that it’s brought into my world or my life. I ran in New York at my 5K that we threw out there, the Run Travis Run, and I had a New Yorker that was on my ass in the best way, who was just hyping me up. And it was one of my best PR times. I didn’t know him. We just met, and we were there pushing each other. I love that part of it, and then I just love all the landscapes and everywhere that running has taken me that I normally wouldn’t see if I wasn’t a runner.