In the middle of the Atlantic, 1,080 nautical miles from the nearest land, Kyle Wills, 34, will turn up Morgan Wallen and look out at the vast “ocean prairie.”
The only mountains in sight, the small sticker Wills placed on board for moments of homesickness during the 40- to 60-plus days he could be living on his 5.5-foot-wide Rannoch R25 ocean rowing boat.
Despite the obvious dangers and having no previous rowing experience, Wills does not fear this moment, or any moment of the 4,800-kilometre solo race across the Atlantic, which takes place December 2026 from La Gomera in the Canary Islands to Antigua.
“My biggest fear is not getting to that start line,” says Wills, who signed up for World’s Toughest Row in 2023 and says that, for the last year, he has spent an average of 40 hours a week on logistics and fundraising.
Wills is no stranger to multi-day races, having competed in ultrarunning events, but this row has proved to be much bigger than himself. Not only does this race amplify the complexity of required logistics—taking a course, ticking off 24 pages of checklists, months of training and approximately $190,000 Canadian just to get to the start line—but Wills is also on a mission to raise $250,000 for SickKids Foundation and Brain Tumour Foundation of Canada.
“I really want to give every child the opportunity to have the opportunities that I did,” he says. “And it starts with having a childhood that they’re not scared of losing.”
Wills credits his positive childhood for providing him hope to hold onto during his six-year battle with depression in his early twenties. “It was my childhood speaking to me,” says the London, Ont., native. “Look, this is a blip. You have a great adulthood that’s gonna give you just as much spark.”
I used to never see a single future, but now I see a million of them.
When life became too monotonous to get out of bed, Wills pushed away everyone, even his two childhood best friends, Matt and Becca. But one day, an invitation to run a 5K from Becca changed the trajectory of Wills’ life.
With no training, Wills struggled through every single kilometre, but was met at the finish line with new perspective. Soon, he began to understand something about himself.
“I can push myself to do new things,” he says. “And that’s where I started broadening my horizons, not just around sport, but everything.”
When Becca invited him to run a 10K next, the only obvious answer was yes. Then a 15K. Then a half-marathon with Matt and Becca, followed by 30K and his first marathon.
Running gave Wills proof that hard things could not only be survived, but make you feel alive.
“I used to never see a single future, but now I see a million of them,” says Wills.
Photography: Jack Madeley
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