Hursty John Kelly just posted this about the race ā¦
That 3 loop āFun Runā hurt more than my last two 5 loop finishes. Yes, the course was harder - about 10% more vert, bringing it to 15K feet per loop. The weather was tougher too - 77F / 25C is toasty for Barkley (2 nights earlier had 4 inches of rain w/ a tornado watch, 1 night later had snow flurries š¤·āāļø). But I also made a lot of mistakes.
Itās actually pretty intriguing, it being back to something Iām not sure Iām capable of doing. But the best measure of difficulty isnāt whether I, or anyone else, can finish. The race is meant to have goals that are out of reach but maybe possible for the full spectrum of participants. When only 10 people finish 1 loop, and only 4 finish 2ā¦ then yeah, maybe it was a bit difficult. The course, and the runners, will continue to recalibrate. And the weather will continue being unpredictable.
Rigid pre-race goals are great for motivation & prep, but for post-race evaluation they often fail to account for the actual circumstances. After each of my events I now distill my satisfaction down to two seemingly simple questions:
- Did I do my best?
- Was it (or would it have been) worth it?
The answer to both questions should be the same. This time they were both yes.
Possibly the greatest thing ultrarunning has given me is simply the ability to honestly answer both of those questions. It requires knowing what my best is, and what my best takes. Far too often people have no idea what theyāre capable of and think āI gave it my allā when it was really just āI experienced mild discomfort.ā What our best is isnāt nearly as important as simply being able to actually give it & having something in life thatās worth it.
