Episode 5: The 100-Miler Stratosphere

In 1997 I entered "The 100 Miler" (160 km) running race. This was a 24-hour non-stop race with 27 entrants and only 15 finishes. I was one of them. By that time I had run 8 Comrades Marathons. One would say I had this long distance running thing sorted! Not when it's TWO ultra-marathons back to back.

By 5am the next day, 10 hours later, I had run 90kms. I started hallucinating with 70 kms still to go. What do you tell yourself to keep going when you already have a broken body? My breaking point came at about 120 kms. I felt like "this is too hard, I want to throw in the towel." My back was aching, my muscles were screaming, and it was hot as hell.

I soldiered on to a finish at 6:30pm that night. The race took me 23 hours 15 minutes, non-stop. After that, I moved into a different stratosphere of belief. 120kms was my breaking point. Lock in your identity when times get so tough there are no words in the dictionary to describe them.

If you're a leader, you've had that moment when the workload seems insurmountably enormous, or when fatigue makes you wonder if you have it in you to continue. That's your Kilometer 70.

• Diagnose: Name it. It's the moment your long-term trajectory is threatened.
• Stability: I calculated the cost of stopping vs continuing. I had proof (8 Comrades). High performers don't make emotional decisions under fatigue.
• Reframe: Not completing the 100 Miler would have fractured my goal. I was protecting a narrative of a career including a 160km race.

Nothing worthwhile comes easily. There is no elevator to success. One needs to take the stairs.