A NONFICTION BOOK IN PROGRESS
The Race After
the Race
DNF, Identity, and the Mental Aftermath of Ultrarunning
East Fork 100kAfter the race
THE RESULT
DNF
Three letters on a results page.
STATUSDNF
THE PART THAT DOESN'T GET RECORDED
The results page knew that I didn't finish.
It didn't know that my wife had spent two hours at Main Aid with an ice pack against a swollen ankle. It didn't know that she told me to put my shoes on and keep going, or that I decided not to. It didn't know about the drive home, her apology, or the results page she kept checking that night.
A year earlier, the same three letters had followed us home from the same race for very different reasons.