Satis perficere
To finish *is* enough.
I have two finishers medallions from the 2024 and 2025 Never Summer 60k. They’re the only finishers medals I have, despite having run many other races, from casual 5ks to challenging sub-ultra trail races. The finishers medals for those ended up in the trash.
What does finishing matter? I would think. I’m an unremarkable, middle-aged, middle-of-the-pack runner. Finishing is what I came to do, but is not worthy of praise or commemoration of any kind. These medals are mere participation trophies.
This was doubly true for races that didn’t go according to plan. My two main races in 2024, the Quad Rock 25mi and Never Summer 60k, both went badly relative the expectations I’d built up through my training and pre-race planning. All my 2024 Quad Rock paraphernalia immediately went into the trash. So did everything from 2024 Never Summer, except for the finishers medallion, which was promptly buried under papers and other detritus on my desk. Falling short of my own expectations was failure. Sure, I finished, but finishing wasn’t enough, I thought.
Two weeks ago I DNFed at mile 32 of the Never Summer 100k. It’s a very hard race, with technical trails, lots of vert, and high altitude. The weather on race day was very hot with little to no cloud cover. But while the heat may have been a contributing factor, the reason I DNFed is that I just wasn’t fit enough. I had a nice race plan but hadn’t put in the hard work necessary for that plan to be feasible. I had a decent (by my standards) finishing time at last years Never Summer 60k — so I could definitely finish the 100k, right? Wrong. I disrespected the race by failing to put in the work.
Over the past two weeks, I’ve come to see those two NS60k medallions very differently, and to regret not keeping any of my other finishers medals. I trained long and hard for each of those races, which are among the most challenging trail races at that distance. Finishing is not guaranteed, so when you do finish, it is enough.