MFR 18: What Does DNF, Did Not Finish, Mean to You?
Have you heard the term “DNF”? Veteran runners will know that DNF stands for “Did Not Finish,” three somewhat unpleasant words for every runner of every level. It is super tough for any runner to imagine stopping, not finishing. Many of us remember the famous scene from one of the 1982 Ironman World Triathlon in Hawaii when Julie Moss’s body gave out, and she ended up crawling over the finish line.
There are many reasons why a runner might dnf, might need to dnf. Sometimes runners don’t stop, when they really should.
Have you ever DNF’ed? It is likely to happen to every runner, eventually. I have dnf’ed twice in my 250 plus races.
The decision to DNF is a difficult one, but maybe it doesn’t need to be such a hard pill to swallow. Maybe it’s all about how you look at it. Maybe it’s largely about your maturity as a runner, about your perspective, your wisdom. You see, DNF has another even more important meaning than did not finish.