Well, I sure didn’t take my own advice about tips for finishing Black Canyon given the subject of this post. While there are a variety of reasons why I decided to DNF, I can’t say that I regret it. That doesn’t mean it doesn’t bother me. None of these excuses are good and none of them truly prevented me from finishing, although I can’t recommend taking your shin for a ride on an above ground cattle guard. Doesn’t feel great. As you may have heard already, you learn the most from your failures than successes. I don’t think it’s truly balanced though, I have failed more in the past and learned a lot less than this particular time. I’ll call myself lucky because learning new things in such a simple yet complicated sport such as ultraunning is priceless.
I think putting this sport in perspective is really interesting. I enjoy reading about mountaineering and alpinism. (Also watching – Meru is an exceptional documentary that I highly recommend). There are countless times where climbers will turn around 100 meters shy of a summit. Can you imagine spending several weeks or months freezing your ass off risking frostbitten limbs, pulmonary edema or simply dying? And make the choice to turn around literally 100 meters from the summit? Most people who make it back down will obsess about that choice and assess every single possible thing they can do next time. While failing at anything sucks, DNFing at an ultra might not seem so bad. It also probably won’t cost you your life if you make a mistake and that’s great news.
Meru Expedition, Garwhal, India
Mike Carson Runs 