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Great comment on that first one:

"Fail is a strong word. I'm sure every one of the runners were successful in learning something about themselves. You fail by not trying."




Yup. Ultrarunning is about personal growth, the competition is there but it's almost secondary.


You also fail by failing to complete the race


Makes me think of "The Man in the Arena":

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship_in_a_Republic


Not if you're running to run.




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