My race at #UTMB ended at about 50-miles (80km) and 10 hours in..at Courmayeur this year. I don’t take DNFs (Did Not Finish) lightly. Going into the race I was going to “Finish no matter what...[unless there was a major health issue that could really set me back]”. Unfortunately that seemed to be the case as after about 35-miles (56km) of solid pacing and running pretty decently my lung 🫁 & chest pain ❤️‍🩹drastically slowed me down (& brought me to a stop). Given my medical history now (from last year’s pulmonary embolism), I made the tough choice to stop my race early 🥲. Again it is not something I take lightly as usually I want to “honor the race” by finishing the course. I realize my position of fortune & privilege to even be able to toe the starting line and realize many wait on a lottery for years for this opportunity to do this event. When I finished in 2017 I suffered greatly and it took 26 hours..but that was with “regular ultra pains and struggles”. Since the pulmonary embolism my lungs have truthfully not been the same & the pain with each breath is rather debilitating. I thought maybe the lower aerobic intensity of these longer races would be better for my scarred lungs...but then again maybe I’m just not as cut out for 100-milers either as even when I started mountain racing 10 years ago I’ve always been better at 50km—50mile distances. Still my legs were feeling pretty strong & my gear was dialed this year! Big thanks to crew chief @sandinypaver and support from @stephengnoza @stephaniegnoza @stephane.huser as well as all my sponsors (tagged below) and @utmbworldseries . Its been amazing to meet so many of you in the #ultrarunning community...thanks for saying hi & for your support and inspiration 🙌! Congrats to all the runners and finishers out in #Chamnoix this week! 🎉Everyone at some level has struggled & suffered through different life challenges (as well as during these grueling & beautiful distance races). We press onwards! 🏃🏻🏔🙌 📸 @peigneeverticale Thank U sponsors: @hoka @spring_energy @camelbak @corosglobal @compressport @athletebloodtestcom @roka @averybrewingco @strava @drymaxsocks @squirrels_nut_butter #utmb #ultrarunning #run