In the world of ultramarathon running, a DNF is the ultimate failure. For most people taking part, the aim isn't to run a particular time, or to finish in a certain position. It's just to keep moving forwards. You can be slow. You can be last. But you can't stop. Chris Marritt may be an provably average, middle-of-the pack runner, but he had experience. He had been running ultras for more than a decade. He'd been running road races for nearly 25 years. And he was fitter than he'd ever been before. But when he stopped for the first time, he wasn't even halfway around the Ring O' Fire - a 135-mile coastal ultramarathon around the island of Anglesey in North Wales. He thought he knew what he was doing. And then, suddenly, he didn't. Did Not Fail is the story of his first failure, of seeing DNF next to his name for the first time, and the pain that caused. And it's about what he did in response - learning from his mistakes, reflecting on why we set ourselves difficult challenges, and where we find the desire to keep on going when everything feels like it's going against us. His account challenges us to think about fear and love, about family, and about pride. It looks at the unique pain of failure, and how - if you're prepared to look that in the eyes and confront it - that pain can prompt a deeper reflection than countless years of success. Funny, honest and hard to put down, it is a book about running but also about the stories we tell ourselves when we fall short, and what it takes to get up and go again. For runners and non-runners alike.
