Episode 17: High on Failure

A fog settles in over the Infinitus race course as Jordan runs.

Photo by Victoria Petryshyn

Jordan Wirfs-Brock

Photo by Mark McCaslin

Infinitus is put on by the Endurance Society, whose crest symbolizes that the greatest enemy an endurance athlete faces is herself.

Photo by Mark McCaslin

At the rustic Blueberry Hill ski center, Infinitus 888k runners slept on cots in a second-floor loft.

Photo by Victoria Petryshyn

Jordan eats ice cream while elevating her legs to curb the swelling in her feet.

Photo by Victoria Petryshyn

Runners in the 888k race tracked their progress on this chart.

Photo by Mark McCaslin

Jordan passes a clown dangling from a tree at the top of Mt. Romance.

Photo by Victoria Petryshyn

Trail signs for Infinitus near Goshen, VT.

Photo by Victoria Petryshyn

As the race went on, mysterious objects, always in a set of eight, appeared in the woods.

Photo by Mark McCaslin

Over the course of the 10-day race, "decorations" appeared in the woods, like these eight pairs of tighty whities.

Photo by Victoria Petryshyn

Runner Linda Bahnson and race director Andy Weinberg run from the cannon that was used to start the 88k race.

Photo by Mark McCaslin

Jordan treats blisters for 88k runner Rebecca Schubert.

Photo by Mark McCaslin

Jordan and her mom, Rebecca, celebrate at the end of the 888k race.

Photo by Mark McCaslin

How falling short of your goals can change your life for the better

“For me, running has always been this way to turn the impossible into the possible. ... When you succeed, something that used to be scary, unattainable, downright bananas, becomes real. Even becomes normal. So when my friend Greg suggested a 500+ mile mountain trail race, I knew I was in.”

— Jordan Wirfs-Brock

Last spring, Jordan Wirfs-Brock attempted one of the toughest trail running races in existence: a 550-miler called Infinitus, which took place in the rugged mountains of Vermont. 

Jordan wasn't new to ultra running, but this race was more extreme than anything she'd done before. And it broke her: she failed to finish.

Curiously, though, the failure didn't leave her feeling defeated. In fact, it turned out to be one of the best things that's ever happened to her. On today's episode, she shares her story.