I met up with my runner at three in the morning. It had been raining all night and all he had been eating were syrupy gels, an energy bar, and energy drinks (and maybe a grilled cheese sandwich or two) since 4 a.m. the day before. He had already been running and hiking 23 hours for over 51 miles and had climbed over 20,000 feet – equivalent to climbing Denali from sea level.

My friend was running a 100 mile race set in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado.  These mountains are Colorado’s largest and are similar in degree of steepness to the Alps.  This was his first 100 mile race, having done several 50 mile and 30 mile races over the last several years. He chose one of the hardest.

I joined my runner to pace him for what should have been 18 miles.  Instead, it turned out to be 22 with 9100 feet of elevation gain through some of the most rugged terrain Colorado had to offer.  His demeanor had not changed much over 24 hours and neither did his pace.  It was consistent, steady, unwavering. This didn’t mean he wasn’t in any pain. He was in a lot of pain--he had a history of tendon problems that were flaring up and general knee pain.  He was exhausted, but he kept going, one foot in front of the other.  When we completed the 22 miles, 11 hours had passed and he still had over 30 miles to go. 

My runner finished the race in 49 hours. By finishing, I mean he was done. He left the race with approximately 10 miles to go – realizing that he could barely stand up, much less cross slippery trails that had perilous cliffs just feet below. It was a smart decision. A slip could have injured or killed him. It’s a hard decision to make, but the right one. Out of about 60 runners who started the event, only 11 finished.  

We found out later that there may have been some mistakes in measuring the course and it was probably 8-10 miles longer than advertised. But my runner was never angry or upset at the race director.  Others may have been. 

What struck me in watching this event was the ability for a significant number of people to endure extreme mental and physical challenges for hours on end – only sometimes to come out on the other side with the “reward of finishing”.  They were satisfied to know that whether they finished or not, they had overcome incredible challenges to achieve what they did. 

I hear often from people that “I could never do that.” “I couldn’t even run a mile.” Although there are some people with physical limitations, my runner and the others are “ordinary” people with ordinary jobs--from stock brokers to plumbers, oil well workers to accountants. Some have families and some are single.  They struggle in life just like you and I. But they find something else that we often forget we have – resilience and grit. They find that they can overcome tremendous stress on the mind and body, to succeed in an incredible endurance event and succeed in life.

It’s something that we all have. Sometimes we have to look really hard. But it’s there. You don’t have to run 100 miles to find it. Just step outside of your comfort zone to remind yourself that it’s there.