Ultra Running can be a lonely sport. Sometimes at the finish line, there might be less than three people awaiting your return. But getting to that finish line is all that counts for an ultra runner.

We do not do it for the praise of others, we seek to find the edge of what’s possible and push beyond.

I started my journey of Ultra Running in 2009. The people who surrounded me at the start line looked different from marathon runners. I’d been running marathons for nine years. There was a mystique to them and I wanted a piece of that.

During that Ultra (Rugby Ultra 35 mile), I hit a physical and psychological wall that I’d never encountered in the past nine years of running.

It hit me so hard I thought my race was as over. For the first time in nine years, I started walking. I felt like such a failure. But then my mind spoke to me, “Kristian, don’t worry, you can still move forwards and you can still finish this, now stop feeling sorry for yourself and go get it.”

Since then I’ve run over 100 ultra’s, either as part of an organised race or just 50 miles out by myself on trail.

What I’ve learnt over the years is that the learning never stops. You never know everything, there’s always some surprise around the corner. In the world of Ultra, there’s always something to challenge you, greater, more challenging and further than before.

This is the sport I choose. Or did this sport choose me, I don’t know? But I continue to pursue the sometimes impossible. Because what Ultra has taught me, there’s nothing impossible.