In a world increasingly insulated from true physical hardship, we go searching for struggle. We lace up our shoes, we train for the brutal miles, and we aim for a goal—a race like the UTS 100, “Savage beyond Reason,” that terrifies us but whose result, we believe, is in our hands.

But what happens when the result is disappointment? What happens when you come face-to-face with the mountain, put in the struggle, the pain, the sacrifice, and still end up with a DNF, a crippling injury, or simply a failure to meet your goal? The emotional weight is immense. It’s a gut-punch that makes you question why you push yourself so far.

The question is, how do we move from that initial despair back to the start line?

The Struggle Within the Recovery

When we talk about ultra-running, we define the real struggle not as the race itself, but as the relentless, consistent training that gets you to the start line—the 10 to 20 hours a week, the sacrifices of family time, and overcoming the voice of procrastination.

The recovery from a disappointment is no different. It is an internal struggle that requires the same persistence and commitment:

• The Struggle of Sitting Still: When the body is broken or the mind is reeling from a failure, the hardest thing for an athlete is to pause. The disappointment tempts us to rush back, but true recovery requires us to embrace the necessary period of rest and reflection. This is a mental battle against impatience.
• The Struggle for Perspective: A single DNF or a missed objective doesn’t negate the months of consistency and growth that led up to it. Disappointment shrinks the focus to the failure; recovery means broadening the lens to see the entire journey. The mental persistence to acknowledge the setback without letting it define you is the new training session.
• The Struggle to Recommit: The pain of failure is a powerful motivator to stop. The true struggle in recovery is finding the motivation to start over—not just the physical training, but the mental work of setting a new, terrifying goal and believing the result is once again in your hands.

Building a Stronger Foundation

Disappointments, like brutal training runs, are the things that tear us down so we can rebuild a stronger version of ourselves.

You will get setbacks, huge disappointments, and injuries, but the mentality to just keep going is the quality that ultra-running forges. Don’t let the temporary pain of a disappointment lure you into a comfortable, sedentary alternative. Embrace the pain, embrace the struggle, and start laying the groundwork for the next, inevitable, extraordinary challenge.

The path back to the starting line is the most important journey of all.

Some figures show participation growth rates in ultra running from a 345% increase worldwide to over 772% increase focusing on the USA with compound annual growth rates of nearly 10% predicted from 2025 to 2033. Over this time of participation growth, the actual pace has been decreasing. This suggests that more beginners like me have been taken to the sport, probably for the challenge.

The question is why?

These are my thoughts, some of the reasons I started to run and others are reasons I’ve picked up from other runners I’ve come across.

During the covid pandemic I decided to I needed to lose weight and get fit. I was 23 1/2 stone at the time and I this was a wake-up call to my own mortality. So I did a lot of cycling and a lot of dieting and eventually lost the weight to be around 14 stone but cycling is not ultra running and in fact my first thought after cycling was to get involved with triathlon, I even did a sprint race.

But I wasn’t captivated by it, for me it didn’t have the adventure I craved for, and if it didn’t captivate me I wouldn’t stick with it and I didn’t want to weigh over 23 stone again

This is when I stumbled across mountain running. I love being in the mountains so why not run in them and see more of them? I was consumed by it, I saw people in races and I made it to goal to see if I could do that from 23 1/2 stone to the 100 kilometres of UTS 100 “Ultra trail Snowdonia” with the tagline “beautiful beyond belief Savage beyond Reason”, to some that would be terrifying and that is the point. I also found it terrifying but it was something I could work towards and I believed the result was in my hands.

So to the point, I think we all need a goal that requires significant struggle. Work for many has become attendance-based or the struggle isn’t physical. It doesn’t physically hurt us or push us way outside of our comfort zones. I think in a world where life is getting more comfortable we crave something to push us harder, to put us in that struggle zone or as endurance athletes call it the “pain cave”. I also don’t think this is to do with community, although for some it can be a motivating factor. Running can be a very solidarity experience, I’ve done 50 km training runs in the mountains and not seen a soul. These have been some of my best days out. Others say they love running. Let’s be clear. I do not love running. I find it hard. I’m not a natural runner. I can be in pain for days after a tough run but that is why I do it. I love the challenge. I love that it’s hard and I fear the alternatives. A comfortable sedatory and potentially short and unhealthy lifespan at home. I want to show my kids or anybody who wants to follow me that you can turn things around. You can do extraordinary things, if you embrace the pain and the struggle. Do the things that tear us down and then rebuild a stronger version of ourselves.

So in my case let’s look at what the struggle actually is. Most people think that the struggle is the event itself, in this case, the 100 km race and although this is incredibly hard and challenging, it isn’t the struggle. It’s the challenge that your struggle gives you permission to play.

For ultra running, you can say the training is your struggle. You really need to be consistent. This means training nearly every day, often twice a day. I try to train 6 days a week and look to include two to three additional strength sessions. Training runs or cycles usually lasts at least an hour with a long run once a week, which is often a lot lot longer. So the real struggle is time and often procrastination

So with time you probably have a full-time job and training is like working another part-time job on top of your day job. Probably 10 to 20 hours a week and that is just to get onto the start line. Then you need to fit in family life and all those unexpected events. Huge sacrifices have to be made by yourself and usually your family for instance not going out every Friday night and trying to squeeze in training sessions early in the morning or late at night, while still trying to get enough sleep to recover properly.

Then when you think you’ve got the routine sorted the procrastination can hit you. You know the thoughts, it’s raining, it’s snowing. It’s dark all those thoughts designed to keep you indoors and not training. These are the struggles that we need to overcome just to get onto the start line. However, the good news is once you start a training session, you nearly always feel better afterwards.

So after all this and the sacrifices that have been made is the struggle worth it, I can say from my perspective, yes definitely, you get setbacks, you get huge disappointments, you can dnf races, you can get injured, but the mentality to just keep going and the persistence is definitely a quality that is beneficial and has helped me enormously. I also made the decision I never want to be 23 1/2 stone again, so the focus on having a goal, a race, or an adventure that I want to achieve is huge motivation to keep me on the right track. It is also important to remember that the journey is just as important as the destination.

I am currently in the middle of another painful long struggle to fully embrace but more on that another time.

In high-skill economies, success hinges on sustained high-level cognitive function and operational resilience. With 50% of the regional workforce employed in high-skill roles, particularly within Financial, Professional, and Business Services (FPBS) and Advanced Manufacturing, the market demands leaders capable of maintaining performance under intense competitive pressure.

But what happens when the demands of the modern C-suite—complex decision-making, talent retention pressure, and constant digital input—lead to high work-related stress and cognitive fatigue?.

The answer is found not in another all-day conference, but in the experiential learning environments of the mountains. As a Qualified Mountain Leader and a Global Sales Director, I understand how the extreme discipline of ultra-endurance translates directly into the systemic resilience required for unstoppable executive leadership.

This is the business case for adopting the Mountain Mindset.

I. The Core Discipline: Mindset Over Skillset

Executive development often focuses on technical skillset, but truly authentic leadership is built upon foundational mindset. Experiential learning in wilderness settings fosters profound personal growth toward this authentic leadership style.

The principles honed on long, difficult mountain routes—what we term the Mountain Mindset—provide the architecture for strategic executive success:

1. Decision-Making Under Pressure: Executive teams frequently suffer from decision fatigue. In contrast, mountain environments demand split-second, high-stakes tactical choices. This environment supports the recuperation of decision-making centers in the brain by exposing them to nature’s “soft fascination,” which requires gentle, undemanding attention rather than intense cognitive effort.

2. Strategic Pacing and Sustained Effort: The key to ultra-endurance is never moving faster than you can sustain. This parallels long-term business strategy. During high-endurance activities, success depends on traits like confidence, skill, balance, and being light on your feet. These technical skills, practiced on difficult terrain, become psychological tools for strategic pacing and sustained effort in the boardroom.

3. Resilience through Setback: Facing difficult situations together in a non-hierarchical outdoor environment builds essential trust and communication within executive teams. Learning to overcome systemic failure (like navigating through bad weather or fatigue) fosters resilience, teaching leaders that failure is merely a data point for systemic improvement, not an end point.

II. Strategic ROI: Translating Green Wellness into Business Metrics

To appeal to the C-suite, particularly SMEs actively seeking frameworks for improvement through initiatives like the Business Vitality Program, the service must align with the three core executive metrics: making money, saving money, and managing risk.

The integration of Green Wellness programs—structured outdoor activities—delivers on all three:

III. Systemic Resilience: The Path Forward

The goal is to provide executive mind fuel—clarity, reduced stress, and better decisions—by leveraging the systematic challenge of the mountain environment.

For corporate leaders and L&D Managers in the high-GVA economy, adopting the Mountain Mindset is not a retreat from business; it is a strategic intervention to secure your team’s mental edge. Furthermore, alignment with regional goals, such as fostering a “Greener Environment” enhances the value proposition and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) appeal.

Whether you’re developing high-potential leaders or mitigating burnout in your C-suite, the principles of sustained effort and strategic pacing, perfected on the trail, are the foundation of unstoppable organizational performance.

Learn more about integrating Green Wellness into your executive leadership programs. Contact us today to design a bespoke program focused on systemic resilience and cognitive performance.

I made the decision on 2023 but decided to do a 2 day refresher first to check my navigation and steep ground work was Ok. Then this year (2025) I did the 5 day assessment in Eyri (Snowdonia). I was a great 5 days, one day one we focused on Micro Navigation, one day 2 we covered the steep ground work and then we had the 3 day expedition where we put it all together.

We spent the 3 days around the Cnicht area, with 2 wild camps. We had some sunny weather on the first day then it was heavy rain, strong winds and low cloud.

The expedition was great fun, although looking back this was probably type 2 fun with the weather being so bad. On the night navigation I remember being within 5 feet of a black shape hoping it was the lake I was looking for and not a cliff dropping into the thick fog and rain.

We finished with some river crossings which was ok, and as we were so wet from 3 days on the mountains it meant we were already soaked through so didn’t get any wetter in the river.

I don’t intend to be a full time mountain leader so you may ask why should I go through this process, the first answer is, I love the mountain and enjoy learning the skills. The mountains have also brought me so much enjoyment over the years, I would love to introduce other people into the mountains in a safe and informative way.

I look forward to learning more mountain skills, perhaps the Winter ML could be next…..

Our adventure began with a breath of fresh mountain air. After arriving, I couldn’t resist lacing up my running shoes and heading out for a quick jog. It felt incredible to be back in the mountains, gaining altitude and soaking in the panoramic views. The crisp air and the promise of adventure were invigorating.

The rest of the week was dedicated to skiing. For me, it was a nostalgic return to the slopes after a decade-long hiatus. They say skiing is like riding a bike, and while the muscle memory was there, I definitely felt a bit rusty at first. Each day brought improvement though, and I slowly regained my confidence. It’s amazing how quickly you can rediscover a passion!

The highlight of the trip, however, was watching my eldest son take to skiing for the first time. He was a natural! His progress throughout the week was remarkable, from tentative first steps to confidently skiing down the mountain. Seeing his joy and enthusiasm was infectious, and it made the whole experience even more special. We captured some fantastic photos and videos of his ski school adventures.

One thing is for sure: we all agreed that we absolutely cannot wait another ten years before our next ski trip! This week in Andorra reminded us of the joy of skiing, the beauty of the mountains, and the importance of creating lasting memories as a family. We’re already dreaming of our next winter escape! Perhaps we’ll even try snowboarding next time… or maybe not! For now, we’re content with the thrill of the skis and the magic of the mountains.

At this time of year I make sure all my spare clothes are kept dry in drybags and I always make sure I have plenty of layers including, A waterproof, an insulated jacket, a long sleave top, waterproof trousers, spare gloves, hat, waterproof over gloves, a first aid kit and a bivi bag.

It is also vital to make sure someone knows the route you are going to take. I make use of a Garmin watch so someone can track me at all times when out in the mountains.

My final piece of advice would be to know all your escape routes off the mountains and to know how to get back to your car once you have taken these escape routes. This is often missed now we rely on GPS watches for route finding rather than an old fashioned map and compass. In Snowdonia I like to know where the Sherpa buses run so I can plan a route back to the start of my run, it is also useful to know when the last bus runs :).

You can see my YouTube Video of this blog post where I spend sometime in Snowdonia in mid October 2024. Running in the Eryri (Snowdonia) Mountains when the seasons change. Make sure you are prepared.

2 Days of Mountain Leader Training in Eryri with https://www.leadingedge-mountain.co.uk/

Ultra Trail Snowdonia (UTS 100) in 2023,

It was my first 100km race and it was brutal. It definitely lived up to it’s tag line “Beautiful beyond belief. Savage beyond reason…” I had done UTS 50 the previous year but this was another level, perhaps I will have a go at UTS 100M for a hundred mile event.