Sifan Hassan - Lessons From The London Marathon, 2023

The inspiring story of how a novice marathon runner stole the show at the London Marathon, 2023; & how her story could fuel inspire us all to be better in our world.

This time last week Sifan Hassan was overwhelmed, & seriously doubting whether she had made a huge mistake! Her anxiety about the fast approaching London Marathon, & the internal demons questioning whether she had been utterly naïve to think she could competitively finish the 26.2 mile distance was eating away at her.

Even on the morning of the race, the anxiety & nervousness she felt was a rollercoaster of emotions - not to mention the nauseating sickness, she later quoted in an interview.

It is true that she has an elite track running record - winning medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m Tokyo Olympics. However, deciding to debut her first competitive marathon distance at the 2023 London Marathon, having never finished the distance before, she only had aspirations to simply finish the race - a podium finish wasn't even within her comprehension!

An hour into the race while struggling to keep up with the front runners, she had an evident painful injury in her hip - stopping on multiple occasions to stretch out the area.

Paula Radcliffe - commenting on the event, noted that 'she seriously needs to stop... any coaches watching should advise her to stop!'. Radcliffe continued, 'I don't think she is going to be a threat. she should stop!'.

From a spectators perspective, the evident pain Hassan was struggling with - & Hassan's own later observation of that moment, stopping & a debut DNF seemed perfectly reasonable.

Yet, she didn't stop & for the next hour of persistent effort continued to force herself back into the race - until at last she caught up with with the front runners. However, with her lack of experience she later also missed a vital drink station - almost stopping to run backwards to get a drink, thus once again losing her spot with the front runners.

This time however she turned up the gas & managed to quickly catch up - even offering another runner a drink!

With 300 meters to go with the finish line in sight, Sifan Hassan blew everyone away - silencing the commentators' previously observations, she sprinted past the current world champion, & won the 2023 London Marathon.

Everyone watching the race unfold was left gob-smacked at what will probably become one of the greatest sporting moments in history. Why? Because during that long old slog of a race - that anyone who has tackled before can vouch for, Hassan's comeback story demonstrated a true example of resilience! Of which is applicable to many areas of our lives.

Naïve Vs Stubbornness

Ross Edgley - another endurance 'Beast' who pushes the needle of what is humanly possible, says 'you should be naïve enough to start something, yet stubborn enough to finish'. Following Hassan's performance in the London Marathon, she showcased this statement in the truest sense of the word.

In today's world it seems like quitting is not only too easy, but also perfectly acceptable! However, what if you made a decision in advance that quitting was not an option when things got difficult - following a relentless stubbornness to refuse to stop? Whether it be a race or fitness challenge, a diet, your marriage, that dream you have to do something you really love, or deciding to be more present with your kids, relentless stubbornness to see it finished is what we need more of, not less..

Make Your Own Assessment

The internal conversation we have with ourselves is incredibly important. Imagine what the outcome of the race for Hassan would have been if she could actually hear the advice coming from the commentary box? 'You need to stop!' You are not going to be a threat in this race!' 'You are inexperienced!' 'It is ok to quit!'

We will never know for sure, but as someone who regularly takes on endurance challenges myself, I know from experience how those comments frequently haunt me at multiple stages of a challenge. I don't need a commentator to reaffirm those demons! However, imagine if that was the message Hassan was physically being told, do you think she would have carried on? I don't! Her DNF would have been logically acceptable based on the assessment of others.

However, when the struggle intensifies, & the suffering takes over in whatever arena of our lives, the assessment of others can be debilitating - especially if the assessment is coming from people who are not currently killing it themselves. Cameron Hanes said 'you should only get advice from those who are doing to themselves... oftentimes, people will provide assessments of your efforts based on their own limitations'.

This is why learning how to cancel out the noise & disregard the internal negative conversations, & make your own assessment of what you believe you are capable of, is imperative to achieving your goals.

At the side of the road, one hour in to the race, with debilitating pain, Hassan made her own assessment of what she was capable of with her own performance. Ultimately, grinding & grinding until at last she won the race.

Summary

I love the Hassan story! It resonates with me & my own journey. I love that she didn't quit. When I watched it I was annoyed at the commentary, not because they were inherently bad, but because I know too well how many of us are taking advice from the wrong people! How many people are falling short of what they are capable of, simply because they listened to the spectators in their lives?

When we learn how to make our own assessment, and adopt a stubbornness to see our challenges through to the end - irrespective of what others may suggest, we can achieve so much more than we could ever imagine! Sifan Hassan has shown the world what can happen when we do just that.

Much love,

Rossi