Chris Marritt: The ultra runner who found the real meaning of failure

Chris Marritt: The ultra runner who found the real meaning of failure

June 29, 2026 · 1h 3m · Episode 213

About this episode

Chris Marritt discusses his experience with failure in ultra running and the lessons learned leading to his upcoming memoir.

When Chris Marritt DNF’d at the Ring O’ Fire, a 135-mile coastal ultra in Anglesey, he started to doubt his whole identity as a runner. As someone who had been running for nearly 25 years and had racked up 2,000 miles in preparation for the race, dropping out hurt Chris more than he had expected. He spent the following year trying to repair the damage, while working out what needed to change second time around. Spoiler alert: redemption was round the corner… and now his full story is set to be chronicled in a forthcoming memoir entitled Did Not Fail, which he will be self-publishing on August 19. In this episode, we speak to Chris about the real meaning of failure and how that has changed for him, why he'd been nowhere near as well prepared for his first Ring O' Fire attempt as he'd thought he was, and how runners can confront the little voice in their head that tells them to stop... Find out more about Chris' memoir, Did Not Fail, and register for updates on its publication at didnotfail.wordpress.com Visit Running Tales on: Substack: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://runningtales.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube…

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