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Ultra Marathon vs Kanban

Ultra Marathon vs Kanban

Intro

Recently my very awesome colleague and friend, Matt Spruce decided he would run the Yr Wyddfa 24 Hour Ultra Marathon by Always Aim High Events. Let's see how Kanban helped me help him to take on the challenge.

Now the original plan was for him and his brother to run the race as a team. However, circumstances beyond anyone's control intervened and sadly, his brother was unfortunately out. That said, Matt decided to carry on and to now enter as a solo athlete. Knowing that Matt was undertaking this crazy challenge I offered to accompany him at the event and be his support person. So off to Snowdonia National Park I went!

Ultra Marathon vs Kanban
Ultra Marathon vs Kanban

The Race

So to build a bit of context around this race for those unfamiliar as I was. The race is a time-trialed event completed over 24 hours (10:00am Saturday to 10:00am Sunday) where participants and teams complete as many laps as possible and only completed laps count. If you arrive back at 10:00:01 then the lap will be void!

For those unfamiliar, Yr Wyddfa is the artist formerly known as Mount Snowdon, the highest mountain in England and Wales. And 1 lap is up and down the mountain. Pretty gruelling stuff and this would be his first ever Ultra Marathon. He's a keen runner and has competed in the London Marathon in the past as well as numerous other events but never taken on a race of this magnitude.

Yr Wyddfa is a beast of a mountain that commands respect due to its grueling ascent and its weather system which is constantly changing. You really do get 4 seasons in one day there!

The Roles

So with Matt as my Customer and me as the service provider, we had to think about the challenge ahead. How would we cope with this as neither of us has been part of this type of challenge before? Matt had some goals in mind but was not certain in how he may be able to achieve them or if they were realistic. I had never provided support to a runner in an ultra-marathon before so what will he need? I have a basic idea but for both of us, there would be a lot of learning as we go but with a shared vision.

Matt's vision was to ideally complete 4 laps and get through the race unscathed (so not getting airlifted off the side of a mountain or getting injured during the race so he could not run in the near future) but there was no grand plan.

Ultra Marathon vs Kanban
Ultra Marathon vs Kanban

Making the Service Fit For Purpose

For Matt to be able to compete at his best he obviously had to put a lot of work in and complete some gruelling training runs. But from my point of view, how do I offer a service that is fit for purpose to someone doing the running? I thought about it and discussed my thoughts with Matt. I thought I had to make sure he had access to:

• First Aid Kit
• Water
• Food
• Lucozade (other carbohydrate energy drink brands are available)
• Jelly Babies
• Somewhere to rest and recover
• Dry kit (the weather on the mountain changes multiple times throughout the day)
• Power supply to recharge his phone, headphones, etc.

I had to make sure that all of the offerings were not only fit for purpose with the what side of things but also the when and how side of things. I had to have everything ready before he returned and have it all on demand during his break as well as when he was set to take on another lap.

How did it go?

Matt was phenomenal. It blew my mind how resilient and determined he was under immense strain. He actually managed to complete 5 laps of the mountain ascent and return. After lap 1 Matt felt good so took a short 10-minute break and did a fast turnaround. Everything he wanted was there and I made sure he did minimal leg work and was effectively his goffer and off he went on lap 2. This is a great example of test and learn as when Matt returned he was not in a good state. He was visibly drained and fatigued. For this break, we made sure he took a longer break and took on board more fuel for his body. This time he took a break of circa 35 minutes. After that period he was back to himself and now with 2 laps under his belt, he was becoming more familiar with the process. Also, we could now start to see patterns in the gate timings so I had a better idea of when to have things ready and when to be where.

Ultra Marathon vs Kanban
Ultra Marathon vs Kanban

Following lap 3 again Matt took the approx. 35-minute break, kit change, and refueled. Again he was ready to go on the 4th ascent. The end of the 4th lap was going to be around the 23:00 hours mark (the race started at 10:00am Saturday and Finished 10:00am Sunday). This was one where we had a plan in place for the rest he may need so I set up a Camper Van with an airbed and sleeping bag in the back and facilities to wash and change should he so wish.

On his return, he decided against taking the longer rest and stuck with the 35-minute turnaround that had served him well so far. I tried to accompany him on his 5th ascent as I thought having someone with him to chat to might distract him from the fatigue. However, even as a boy who grew up in the mountainous region of the Brecon Beacons (so I am used to a hill or two) I could

not keep up with him. The man is a machine! I had all the kit to go but it was a bridge too far for me. We discussed it and I bugged out after 1.5km up the mountain. I would have been a hindrance and not a help. This was about Matt and not about me so I returned to the base and kept an eye on the tracker for him and be ready with what he needed upon his return.

On his return around 04:00am Matt decided that was enough. He had exceeded the goal of 4 laps and whilst he had plenty of time and could possibly push on through he decided that was enough. From here we headed back to the camper van and Matt finally got to lay down and take it all in.

I was and am so proud of him. It is the greatest display of mental and physical fortitude I have ever witnessed in person. Matt covered 50 miles in 18 hours with 5000 meters of elevation. That is the equivalent of going up Mont Blanc in a day!

Ultra Marathon vs Kanban
Ultra Marathon vs Kanban

The Kanban Method

So where is the Kanban in all of this I hear you cry. Well let's take a look:

Visualize the Work - Through the race Tracking App, I could see Matt's progress as he passed the checkpoint gates. This gave me a visual signal when to pull on the work to have it ready. There would be no point in having a warm energy drink sitting in the sun all day or a cold coffee.

Manage Work in Progress - One lap at a time, be ready each lap before he arrives back, whilst he is back, and before he heads off. No grand plan in play helped us with our agility to meet and exceed the desired goals.

Manage Flow - Predictability grew with the lap times. I was able to have things ready for his return and before he headed off.

Improve Collaboratively - Listen to the feedback and learn what works each lap. Adjust what does not work and improve as you go.

Implement Feedback loops - Use the data from each lap and the tracking gates yes but more importantly take the feedback from the person. He is human so I had to consider his mental state and use emotional intelligence to adjust the offering to be what he needed not what I thought best.

Key Takeaways

Kanban Principles and Practices Work: By using some key principles in how we manage our work with the Kanban Method I was able to build a fit-for-purpose service that enabled Matt to run the race he wanted to and exceed his own expectations.

Feedback Loops Are Key: Whilst the metrics really helped with predictability, it's not all about the metrics. I had to consider Matt as a person. How was he feeling? He had not done this before. As I mentioned, at the end of lap 2 he was dead. We had to adjust as we went but the goal had not changed. When to talk, when to just be ready and on hand but not in his face. All of these were important factors to keep Matt in the best head space as well as physical state.

Follow a Goal but don't be Married to the Plan: We had no grand plan but there were clear goals we both kept in mind. With the direction and alignment in place, we used the Observe, Orient, Decide, and Act (OODA) Loop to make sure he was in the best shape to go again after each lap.

Ultra Marathon vs Kanban

Conclusion

When folks tell me, "Yeah but Kanban does not work for us because of X, blah, blah, blah...." It may not but it certainly helps me and I have personally seen Kanban help multiple teams, departments, and organisations benefit from it massively. Could improving your knowledge and application of Kanban improve things for you? Let's have a chat and find out.