Business Lessons from an Ultra-Marathon

Today is the day after the #PLUM journey run. The lessons I learned over the past 30 days are many but I wanted to break it down to the 3 most important lessons I learned.

I should give some background. My closest friends and I started a movement to spread Peace, Love and Unity throughout the city of Buffalo during a time of unbelievable divide. Our mission was simple, print some yard signs with peace, love and unity on them and give them away. We were simply coming out of pocket to print these and give them away. Due to overwhelming requests to support the movement financially, we started a gofundme. The response was great. Our friend Mike contributed but wanted to do more. He offered to do a 48 hour run (little to no sleep) and raise funds. Our timeline was tight but we stuck to it and I learned a ton along the way.

There are a couple items worth mentioning to understand how challenging this was: One of the founders of PLUM was going through chemotherapy and surgery as this was happening. Another founder (me) is significantly overweight, recovering still from ankle surgery and works for a company that has the highest demand for products on the planet (hand sanitizers and disinfectants) therefore I am busy. The runner (Mike Grochala) suffered an injury and has been out of running for quite some time. This would be his first entry back into running in some time.

Here are the three top lessons learned.

1. Start with the end in mind: from day one of Mike offering to do this and raise funds for a great cause, I watched him establish his goals. He established goals for the time he would run, the distance, the amount of funds he would raise, and he executed on it. Everything else was just a part of the process to get there. Due to an injury he had not been running for a while so this was his first long distance run in a long time. He started training for it within days of discussion starting, running 10 miles per day. This was in addition to a full time job, being a father and husband, and helping the newly formed PLUM non profit learn about the intricacies of a journey run. I’ll tell you though... There are no words that can explain how in awe of his sacrifice I am.

2. Enjoy the process: The way our friendship grew through this is one example of enjoying the process. The smiles Mike showed during the run were another. I can tell you, I’m not smiling after being up 20 hours, even if I’m sitting down let alone running and not sleeping for 48. He enjoyed helping us learn about what he was doing. I myself would get discouraged during the 30 days leading up to the event and Mike would always keep me motivated and optimistic. I guess that’s how you have to be during something like this.

3. Get uncomfortable: There are many examples of this. Raphael and Carla getting a Facebook, me asking clients to help a good cause or accepting their offer, Mike’s blisters on his feet. The discussions with complete strangers to offer signs. And, I haven’t even touched the mental strength needed to overcome the challenges the runners faced. 

In closing, for some perspective: Mike ran 48 hours and 131 miles. I walked about 7 miles yesterday, have blisters on my feet from it, and felt like quitting before I started. I am sore today and last night my leg muscles started cramping. Thank you Mike for giving me new perspectives, new lessons, and humbling me.