12 Marathons in 12 Months: What Running Taught Me About Leadership and Resilience
Twelve marathons. Twelve months. Three countries. Two hemispheres. From the green landscape of New Zealand to the 40°C heat and high humidity of a Dubai summer. Not bad for someone who is distinctly 'Mr Average’.
I’m not an elite athlete. My fastest time wouldn’t raise eyebrows at a running club. But what I do have is consistency, discipline and a stubborn streak. Those three things carried me through several runs — even when I was injured, even when training had to be rebuilt around physio and rehab, even when I was slow, tired and questioning why I set myself his challenge in the first place.
And that’s exactly the point: this wasn’t about extraordinary talent. It was about ordinary persistence.
The Journey
I’ve always run. First it was to build fitness to play rugby, then when I had to hang up the boots due to one-to-many injuries, it was a way to stay physically fit. Running then turned into a practice that help me stay fit mentally.
I ran my first marathon in 2022, and I ran it on my own. It was a personal challenge, something that I wanted to achieve before a milestone birthday. A couple of organised races followed which were enjoyable, and a very different experience. Then I had a thought: could I run 12 marathons in 12 months. It wasn’t ego. I wanted it to be a personal challenge.: could someone ordinary do something a little extraordinary?
When I started, the idea of 12 marathons in 12 months felt audacious and daunting. I wasn’t sure I’d manage it.
Some runs were unforgettable: running alongside the mighty Waikato River in New Zealand, to a very personal route back home in Scotland. Others were humbling: the ones where my pace dropped due to injury and all I could do was keep moving one step at a time. My runs in Dubai tested me with heat and humidity: I’d leave home at 2am to try and reduce their impact but I’d be drained before halfway.
There were highs — good times that made me smile. There were lows — marathons where I was grateful just to finish it. But every single one taught me something and, over time, those lessons began to loop together.
The Obstacle Is the Way
Running isn’t just about running. In solo long-distance running the only opponent you have to compete with is yourself. And that can be hard, but very rewarding. It’s a conversation with yourself — sometimes a negotiation, sometimes a battle. You hit the edge of your limits, and you learn to think differently about effort, focus and recovery. You often enter the ‘pain cave’ – hitting the edge of your mental and physical limits, and then tunnel a little bit further.
In almost every marathon, an obstacle appeared. Heat. Humidity. An injury flare-up. Fatigue. The worst was doubt itself. These could be seen as roadblocks, but I saw them differently: not as something in the way, but as part of the way.
The Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius wrote: “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” That became a quiet mantra for me. Every setback forced adaptation. Every injury forced me to train smarter. Every difficult run forced me to dig deeper. The obstacles weren’t distractions from the path — they were the path.
The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way - Marcus Aurelius
The Lessons
Here are a few lessons from the road that I think apply to growth, both personal, professional, and a few things in between:
Consistency and Compounding - Improvement didn’t come from one breakthrough session. It came from lots of small, ordinary runs, over many years. Progress compounds quietly — the same way habits, discipline and learning do in life and work.
Breaking Down BHAGs – A BHAG is a Big Hairy Audacious Goal (see ‘Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies’ by Jim Collins). It’s a bold, longer-term goal that is so ambitious it initially seems almost impossible, yet it is clear and compelling enough to provide focus and energy. Twelve marathons in a year sounded nearly impossible. But 42km is ‘just’ four 10kms (plus change). It really came down to one kilometre at a time. My approach was to frame (and reframe) the context, design a plan, test it and refine it - just like any strategy. Big goals only become achievable when you break them down into manageable, testable steps
Stoicism - There are things I can control (training, preparation, hydration). And things I can’t (weather, injuries, surprises once I’ve started). Focusing only on what I control has been the difference between frustration and progress. That same mental framing builds resilience in leadership, teams and life
Resilience and Adaptation - Rehab and prehab became part of the rhythm. Setbacks weren’t failures, they were signals: adapt, reset and move forward. Physical and personal growth come about in exactly the same way.
Mind over matter - The mind gives up long before the body does. Fatigue isn’t only physical — it’s mental and it’s also perception. Learning to recognise that, and push past it with awareness, is where endurance becomes growth. Whilst endurance requires sustained effort it also requires us to adapt to new realities.
Beyond the Finish Line
Looking back, these 12 marathons were never just about running. They were about reframing challenges, designing better approaches and sustaining effort when motivation fades.
Each run formed a loop of reflection, adaptation and renewed action — a continuous cycle that built not just fitness, but perspective. Extraordinary outcomes are possible for ‘average people when mindset, planning and purpose align.
Because in the end, running 12 marathons taught me less about distance — and more about alignment:
Between purpose and effort
Between ambition and recovery
Between mindset and action
That alignment is what transforms persistence into progress.
As I cross the final finish line of this challenge, I find myself asking new questions:
What can endurance teach us about leadership?
About culture, clarity, and strategy?
That’s the next stage of this journey — and over the coming weeks, I’ll explore those lessons: how the principles that helped me go the distance might help leaders and teams do the same.
