Business is an Endurance Sport—Here’s How Elite Performers Think & The Leadership Lessons these Athletes Can Teach

Business is an endurance sport.

Not just metaphorically—but in its demands on your mind, body, and spirit.

Founders and executive leaders face races that don’t end at 26.2 miles. There’s no finish line. No clear end. Just milestone after milestone, each one demanding more resilience, more focus, and more discipline than the last.

Over the past few years, I’ve found myself drawn deeper into the world of actual endurance sports. Events where marathon distance is the warm-up. And what’s struck me most isn’t the distances people cover—but the mindset it takes to keep going.

One name stands above the rest: Eliud Kipchoge.

When Kipchoge became the first human to run a marathon in under two hours—clocking in at a blistering 1:59:40—I couldn’t look away. His speed, form, and control were unreal. But what truly captured me was what powered it all: his mind.

In a long-form interview in 2022 after setting the world record at the Berlin Marathon, Kipchoge laid out a worldview that applies as much to the boardroom as it does to the race course. What he shared felt less like advice for athletes and more like a manifesto for elite performers in any domain.

Here are the lessons from this incredible athlete that reshaped how I think about leadership, scaling, and the long run of building something that lasts.

The Leadership Lessons from the Athlete

1. "Success isn't real."

This is the quote that hit me first:

"I don't believe in success. I believe in good preparation and planning."

For Kipchoge, success is not a destination—it's a consequence. It's not the goal, it's the byproduct of hard work and meticulous planning. He doesn't chase success. He sets a standard and lives into it. As he puts it, when you achieve one goal, you simply "aim for the next branch."

This flips a common startup narrative on its head. Most founders are trained to define success as a milestone—an ARR target, a fundraise, a headline. But those are lagging indicators.

What matters more: the systems, routines, and behaviors that precede the result.

Success isn't something you aim at. It's something that arrives when your inputs are consistent, aligned, and excellent.

2. The work is invisible—by design.

"People see the final product," he said. "They don't see what went in."

This is the unseen side of excellence. While most people remember the record-breaking race, Kipchoge remembers the 4:30 a.m. wake-ups, the handwritten training logs, the silent miles logged in darkness.

The work that matters most is usually invisible. That's true for a founder spending weekends rebuilding their hiring process after three bad hires. It's true for a marketing leader quietly rebuilding positioning after a failed product launch. And it's true for a sales team iterating on their qualification process until their close rate finally jumps.

I've watched countless high-growth companies stumble because they focus on the visible wins—the big announcements, the flashy launches—while neglecting the invisible fundamentals.

The work that drives results won't show up in your feed. It shows up in your margins, your morale, your momentum.

3. Mastery demands suffering.

Kipchoge doesn't shy away from pain. He actively welcomes it.

"Pain is a good thing," he said. "It shows you're working. If you don't feel pain, you're not approaching success."

He views pain as a teacher, not a threat. It's a sign you're pushing to the edge of your capability.

This is a mindset we often resist in leadership. We want leverage without discomfort. We want growth without friction. But real performance—the kind that compounds over years—requires an ability to persist in suffering. Not just tolerate it, but integrate it.

If you're building something meaningful, expect it to hurt. That's the work.

4. Values are a source of speed—and trust.

At Kipchoge's training camp in Kenya, they don't just talk about values. They operationalize them.

He has a list of 60 printed on a giant board at the gate. Every team member chooses their top 15, then narrows down to 3. Those three become your compass. You "walk by them, run by them, relax by them."

It sounds simple. But in practice, it's a culture-building superpower. I've seen this play out with early-stage SaaS companies where teams with clear, lived values consistently outperform those with values that just live on the conference room wall. The difference? One team makes decisions faster because everyone knows what matters most.

High-performing teams aren't built on perks or policies. They're built on shared values, lived consistently.

This is the foundation of trust. And trust, in business, is speed.

5. Freedom requires discipline.

"The disciplined ones are free," Kipchoge said. "The undisciplined ones are imprisoned."

His routine is monastic. He doesn't check his phone until after breakfast. He journals by hand every single day. He keeps notebooks with records of every training run, every massage, every shoe he's worn.

Why? Because structure breeds clarity. Clarity creates momentum. And momentum creates freedom.

If you want to free up your team, your mind, or your calendar—start with your discipline.

Discipline isn't restrictive. It's expansive. It's the structure that makes excellence sustainable.

6. Learn to say No.

Kipchoge calls it "Vitamin N." It's his shorthand for learning to say no—to distractions, to comfort, to the voice in your head that wants to take the easy path.

This might be the single most underrated leadership skill in high-growth environments. When everything feels urgent and every opportunity feels important, your ability to say No is what protects the integrity of your Yes.

Saying No isn't selfish. It's strategic.

"Success waits for you to say 'I'm ready.' But first, you have to say no to everything that dilutes your focus."

Final Thought: Business is a long run.

Kipchoge's mantra is "No human is limited." But what makes him extraordinary is his refusal to limit the fundamentals. He embraces the boring. He repeats the basics. He does the hard thing when no one is watching.

If there's one thing I took away from listening to him, it's this:

Do what's right at the right time. Trust the work. Respect the pain. And when success arrives, don't stop. Just aim for the next branch.

That's how the greatest in the world keep going. And maybe that's how we can too.

---

If you're building something that needs to last, we should talk. At Renovant Partners, we specialize in helping growth-stage leaders turn mental models into operating models. The kind that compound over time.

Sound like the kind of endurance you’re aiming for? Let’s connect.