The U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials were held in Houston a few weeks ago. Only the top three runners in the trials race go to the Olympic games. Invariably, this scenario creates very disappointing races for the majority of the runners – especially the 4th place runner. This year, the 4th place runner was Dathan Ritzenhein, and the way that he has dealt with his disappointment can be learning experience for all runners.
It is hard to imagine the disappointment that Dathan felt at the trials. After thousands and thousands of miles of training, and running the 26.2 mile course only 8 seconds slower than the 3rd place finisher, Dathan did not have an Olympic birth to show for his efforts. Rather than wallowing in his own sadness, however, Dathan has taken the high road and provides a good example of how to deal with disappointment. In post-race interviews, he has echoed the following thoughts:
For me there has been a lot more failure than there has been success but that’s really what makes those really big moments important and special so you have to really take those bumps on the road and use them in a positive way. For me it’s been really easy to re-focus after something hard like that. There is always those initial moments of disappointment but you have to either quit or move on and that’s what I’m doing now. It’s kind of the good thing about running; anybody can have a bad result but still use that as motivation for the next time.
Instead of dwelling on the negatives of a disappointing result, Dathan shows how to redirect those emotions, which can be very destructive to running, into motivation and resolve to do better in the next race. The next big race for Dathan is the U.S. Olympic trials for the 10,000 meters and it is a safe bet that he will channel his resolve into an Olympic birth after all.
When you have one of many running disappointments, keep in mind that even the best professionals face running disappointments. Take a lesson from them and learn how to press on with even more determination in the pursuit of success.
