When the Race Stops Being Fun

“It’s just not fun any more - I’m dropping.”

I talk with runners all the time who walk away from a race disappointed because it wasn’t what they expected it to be.

Finish or not - it let them down.

It was supposed to feel good and be easy the whole way. Lots of laughing and smiles. The reality was harder and felt worse - physically, mentally and emotionally - than they expected.

The truth is, if you think the race is supposed to entertain you and make it fun for you - you’re not taking responsibility for your race.

It is not the race’s responsibility to make it fun for you - it’s your responsibility to make the race fun for yourself.

The race is just a course of a certain distance with a cutoff and some aid stations.

It’s neutral. Neither good or bad, hard or easy, fun or miserable.

It just is.

If you want this thing to be fun, it’s your job to make it that way.

But first, was fun actually your main goal?

Probably not. There’s no shortage of easier ways to have fun.

Get honest with yourself.

Most likely, you were aiming for a goal time, specific mileage, or finish.

Say you’re running a 24-hour race. You signed up, made the effort to train, got there, and knew you’d be running in circles for hours…because you wanted to reach a goal.

But now that the race is getting tough, you start thinking, “This isn’t fun.”

As if that’s why you signed up.

You knew it would be challenging, exhausting, and uncomfortable and reaching your goal would be worth it. But still…

“Here I am in the middle of this ultra. I feel like crap, I’m dehydrated, my stomach’s a little nauseated, and it’s boring.”

Your mind is gathering evidence to prove it makes sense to drop. It’s building an excuse.

In that moment, you have a choice - either continue down that road of disappointment or catch yourself and ask, “Ok, it’s not fun right now but I’m still committed - how can I make this fun?

“I’m here, doing this, and that’s not going to change…so if I want fun, I better make it.”

Think of all the ways you can make it fun, pick one and do it. If that doesn’t work, pick another. Make it fun…no matter what.

You have to want to do this. It’s easy to go ahead and quit.

When you’ve been running for hours, you might have to dig deep.

And you might have to repeat this process more than once.

But taking responsibility for your experience is powerful - it can save your race.

You don’t have to hope the race will magically become fun.

The aches and tiredness don’t matter as much.

You get to make it as fun as you want, when you want.

And you can focus your attention back on the task at hand - running to your goal.

Better for your race and more fun for you.