Your Race is More Than Its Worst Moment

When I asked my client how her race went, she replied dejectedly, "I just didn’t do it."

It was her first Backyard Ultra, otherwise known as a Last Runner Standing race. It’s a relatively new ultramarathon format where you have to run a 4.167-mile lap in less than an hour (a 24 hour 100-mile pace) - every hour. 

The race ends when one runner remains and finishes a lap. This last finisher is the winner and only finisher. Second place is labeled the “Assist,” but all other runners get a DNF. No second place – only one winner.

My client entered with the bold goal to win. 

We worked meticulously through the new mental and physical challenges this unique format would present, and planned everything we could imagine: pacing, aid stops, mindset traps, and how to stay focused through the unrelenting, repetitive nature of the laps.

On race day, she was ready. She navigated early challenges, pushing through one particularly tough low point, and kept to the plan for hours. But at the 62-mile mark, her 16th lap, she missed cutoff and timed out with other runners still on the course. 

She didn’t win.

When we talked, all she could focus on was that last lap. To her,"I just didn’t do it,” defined the race.

Missing your goal is one thing, but focusing solely on that failure keeps you stuck there, missing all the successes you can use to run better next time.

The problem wasn’t that she failed, but that she viewed one “failed” lap as the whole story, overshadowing the 15 successful ones.

And the problem with, “I just didn’t do it,” is that it doesn’t help you grow or improve.

The only thing you can do with it is beat yourself up. You end up stuck there, replaying the moment things went wrong, omitting everything that went right. 

When we looked at the race fairly, three powerful stories emerged:

1. She faced a new format head-on, with courage and determination. Entering a race like this, knowing how unforgiving it is, takes guts. She didn’t shy away from the challenge—she embraced it.

2. She set a big goal and refused to back down, even when it got hard. Many runners would have scaled back their goals as the race wore on, but she didn’t. She stayed committed to her ambition of winning, even when it would have been easier to give in and settle for less.

3. And then there was the third, most important story: She valued herself highly enough to be honest that she wanted this big, audacious goal and to go for it —even if she didn’t achieve it this time.

That’s not failure, it’s t’s courage. It’s bravery in the face of vulnerability.

It’s what makes ultrarunners exceptional—more than the distance, it’s the mental strength to chase bold goals knowing we may fall short, but we’ll learn, get back up and try better next time.

Because, in the end, that’s what it’s all about.