The first event was held in June 2016. The guest speaker was the ultramarathon runner Andy Findley who shared his experience of running the Marathon des Sables, known as the toughest footrace on Earth. Andy described what it was like to run 152 miles in 5 days, enduring 50°C heat. He used his experiences from extreme endurance sport to reflect on how we can run a better race and challenged us to be better men.
In Andy’s talk he offered the following tips :
- Be intentional. Every day.
- The weight of your bag determines how fast you run. Check your backpack every day. Get the boulders out.
- Check your dashboard. Every day. Don’t take your eye off the ball.
- Nothing ever goes to plan. You can’t think negative thoughts.
- Get good running mates. You’re an average of your five closest friends. “Show me your friends and I’ll show you your future.”
- Remember the power of your influence. Your daughter learns how she should love a man by how you love your wife. Your kids are learning from you. People are watching you and taking notes.
- We over-estimate what we can do in one day and under-estimate what we can do over a long time. Little decisions make a big difference. Make marginal gains every day. Better yourself daily.
- Encourage others. Find your passion and add value to others. We have to improve the lives of those around us.
- Don’t stop. Run strong and never never give up. We are so much stronger than we can ever give ourselves credit for. We can’t DNF (Did Not Finish).
Listen to the full talk here.