31 Days – Allie Bailey

The definition of success according to the Oxford English Dictionary is: ‘The achievement of a desired result or outcome; the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. In later use often: the attainment of wealth, social status, etc.’ On paper that seems pretty legit, right? If we get something that we want done done, then it is a success; if we marry a nice person, then that is a success; if we have 2.4 children, then that is a success; if we pass all our exams, then that is a success; if we finish the race we have trained for, then that is a success.

Or is it? There are pitfalls to our ideas around success. Fucking hundreds of them. Often all is not as it seems. What if you do all these things, tick off all these targets and you still feel empty and miserable? What if you do marry the right person in 1992 but realise in 1994 that they’re actually a bit of a prick?

What if you do have 2.4 children, but one of them dies in a terrible accident at a very early age? What if you do pass all your exams but then realise you don’t want to be a doctor, you want to be a singer? What if you train super hard for that race but roll an ankle in the first mile and don’t manage to finish it? Do these circumstances then make you unsuccessful? Can you see the problem here?

Success is not a rigid, definable term like people seem to think it is. Success is a fluid, constantly moving concept, and it should be treated as such. Success seems to be defined by societal judgement when it should be defined by personal experience. Success is not the same for everyone, and thinking that the achievement of some aim or goal will make us feel happy or successful is a fallacy.

Allie Bailey with Pickle. Photo by David Miller. Allie Bailey is an ultrarunner, award-winning endurance and life coach, speaker and podcaster who has run in some of the most extreme places in the world. She was the first woman to run 100 miles across frozen Lake Khövsgöl in Mongolia and to run the full length of the Panama Canal. She has crossed the inhospitable Namib Desert three times, run the length of the Outer Hebrides and completed a 1,000-mile off-road version of the classic Land’s End to John o’ Groats route in just thirty days.

Allie has finished over 200 marathons and ultramarathons all over the world, most recently winning the 160-mile Summer Spine Challenger North and finishing the 2025 Dragon’s Back Race. But the most remarkable thing about all of these achievements is that she accomplished most of them while battling depression and alcoholism. Although running ultimately became the vehicle that helped her buy the time to recover from a number of severe mental health breakdowns, it did not save her.

In fact, there were times when it made her battle all the more difficult. After a seismic mental health crisis in 2021, Allie finally admitted to herself and those around her that she was an alcoholic and started her recovery. She left behind a dream career with major record labels and adventure companies and now works as a coach with a broad range of runners and endurance athletes, helping them unlock their full potential.

In 2022, she was named as one of the most inspiring female adventurers in the UK by The Guardian, and she has appeared on numerous mainstream TV programmes including The One Show and Lorraine. Allie’s first book There Is No Wall was released to critical acclaim in 2024, topping a number of Amazon charts on release. It is now being developed into a feature film. 31 Days is her second book.

She currently lives in Yorkshire with her rescue dog, Pickle. www.alliebailey.co.uk 1kitap1.com/en For all my coached athletes, past and present. You have taught me more than any book could ever do. Thank you for trusting me, educating me and being examples of what is possible. 1kitap1.com/en 31 DAYS Allie Bailey First published in 2026 by Vertebrate Publishing.

VERTEBRATE PUBLISHING, Omega Court, 352 Cemetery Road, Sheffield S11 8FT, United Kingdom. www.adventurebooks.com Copyright © Allie Bailey 2026. Cover, worksheets and design elements by Sarah Underwood. www.studioshed.design Photography by David Miller.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: 73d8bd21036b17c0
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 5,593,370 bytes (5.334 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781839812699, 9781839812705, 9781839812712
• Pages: 287
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 287.85 minutes
• Total Words: 57,570
• Total Characters: 311,692
• Average Words per Page: 200.59
• Average Characters per Page: 1086.03

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