“The miracle isn’t that I finished, it’s that I had the courage to start” John Bingham.
“True success is not the absence of failure, it’s the refusal to surrender” Lazarus Lake.
I have been inspired for this post by a publisher I recently contacted (nothing to do with myself writing or publishing anything!). This publisher mainly focuses on books about ‘ordinary people doing extraordinary things’. Also, I recently attended a short course on sports psychology which I really enjoyed. These are the inspiration for this post.
In my view achievements are mainly in the eye of the beholder, for one person a huge achievement might be stepping outside but, for another person, that might be running a 5k without stopping yet for another person it could be climbing Everest. These need to be equally celebrated, everybody is different with different experiences and outlooks.
I recently read a book called ‘Ignore the Fear’ by Fiona Quinn which is the true story of Fiona who became the first person to travel 800 miles from Lands End to John O’Groats on a paddleboard. One of the main reasons she did this was because she was scared of the sea and decided to face her fear! I’m not sure I would have done quite the same thing but I do get it, I understand her reasoning and admire her determination – throwing herself in at the deep end, quite literally.
Throughout the summer of 2021 I followed (online, not literally) a man called Brendon Prince who became the first person ever to circumnavigate the UK on a paddleboard. This was known as ‘The Long Paddle’ and this feat took him 141 days in total. He didn’t do this just for personal achievement; Brendon did and still is raising a significant amount of money for various charities ranging from water safety to men’s health and wellbeing. He founded a charity in 2017 called ‘Above Water’ which promotes water safety.
www.thelongpaddle.co.uk
This has got me thinking about what other achievements people have accomplished and what their inspiration and reasoning was. In 1954 Roger Bannister became the first person ever to run a mile in under four minutes. Much more recently Eliud Kipchoge became the first person ever to run a marathon in under two hours. This was done in manufactured conditions but still an incredible achievement. I’m not sure if they can count as ‘ordinary’ people though as they are/were professional athletes, with support crews and world class coaches etc.
There is something called the Barkley Marathons which holds a sense of awe to me, every so often I look for a video on You Tube for a little inspiration and to see people with beyond-human grit and determination. The competitors are ‘ordinary’ people, there is one particular video on You Tube of a British lady who is also a breast cancer survivor and she decided to take on Barkley. Link to the video below.
Many people haven’t heard of the Barkley Marathons but it was created by a very eccentric man called Lazarus Lake. He was hiking through the wilderness in Pennsylvania and passed two prisons. The reason for the location of the prisons is because the surroundings are so harsh that escape would be incredibly difficult. Lazarus thought this would be a great place for an ultimate ultra-race. He created a course and participants need to run five laps of the course, which isn’t measured but believed to be around 30 miles per lap and this must all be completed in under 60 hours. There have only ever been 15 finishers from thousands of starters and most of the time no-one gets to the final lap. Usually around half drop out after the first lap. Whenever someone does complete it then he makes it tougher the following year!
The thought process behind someone wanting to do this I find fascinating! Nowhere near to Barkley Marathons extreme but I look at some races thinking ‘that looks brutal and painful, I think I’ll enter that …’ I don’t enter for medals or finishing goody bags. It’s the sense of achievement and accomplishment and realisation of just what our bodies are capable of if our heads let our bodies do it.
Whether your achievement is the starting line of the Barkley Marathons, parkrun or the end of your driveway for a short walk is irrelevant. Everybody has different experiences and has walked different steps in life to get to the point where they are right now.
I think anyone can set a goal to achieve something, but you need to be careful make sure it isn’t too much or too little. Have a think about what that achievement would mean to you and the sense of accomplishment when it has been achieved. Make some plans on how to get there – what are you good at, what do you need to improve and how can you do that?
My current goals are a trail marathon in 2023 and I would like to participate in a swim-run also. That’s quite a big one for me as I am only just beginning to swim distances.