‘Given to Fly’: Seattle’s Brian Morrison tells the story behind his famous Western States finish-line collapse

Twenty years after one of the most dramatic collapses in ultrarunning history, Seattle’s Brian Morrison has finally put his story on the page.

Morrison, who was leading the 2006 Western States Endurance Run before his body gave out less than 250 meters from the finish line, is the author of a new memoir, “Given to Fly,” chronicling his rise, his fall, and his eventual return to the iconic 100-mile race.

The Western States Endurance Run, founded in 1977, winds through the Sierra Nevada wilderness and caps its field at roughly 400 runners each year, making entry one of the most coveted prizes in the sport.

“It’s like the Boston Marathon of ultras,” Morrison said during an appearance on “Seattle’s Morning News.”

In 2006, Morrison toed the line as a relative newcomer to the 100-mile distance, mentored by seven-time champion Scott Jurek, whom he had met while working at Seattle Running Company on Capitol Hill.

“He told me a full year ahead of my run in 2006, just before his seventh and final, that he believed I could carry the torch for Seattle and win Western States,” Morrison said. “I had had some success in 50Ks, but he saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself.”

Race day brought 100-degree heat and a punishing pace

Morrison surged to the front and held the lead deep into the final miles. Then, within sight of the finish, his body simply quit.

“Mental fortitude was such a part of my story, and I think my mental strength was the only thing that propelled me into the front that day,” Morrison said. “I had been done probably for miles and miles, but mentally I was able to keep going. Somehow, seeing that finish line just flipped the switch and turned the lights off. My body completely gave out.”

Morrison fell, got back up, fell again, blacked out, and has no memory of crossing the line.

“I remember the first one, and I remember thinking that that might as well be another 100 miles away, because I wasn’t going to get there under my own power,” he said.

It would take a decade before he returned to finish the race on his own terms in 2016, a journey documented in a short film by director Ethan Newberry. That renewed attention, Morrison said, helped convince him there was a book worth writing.

“I’ve got a lot of imposter syndrome about it, because I don’t feel like I am a writer,” he said. “But the way people gravitated toward a decade on, and that movie that Ethan made, made me realize there’s really a story here. I’m a slow writer, I guess.”

Music threads through the memoir, particularly the work of Seattle’s Pearl Jam. Morrison said he has attended 43 of the band’s concerts, with a 44th planned for September at the Ohana Festival.

His 2016 pacers were Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, who wrote the book’s foreword, and Morgan Henderson of Fleet Foxes. Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready also stopped by Fleet Feet on Capitol Hill before the race to wish him luck and quietly shared motivational video clips with Gibbard to play for Morrison on race day.

Morrison said the book’s central message is about belief, perseverance, and reframing failure.

“The power of belief is so important,” he said. “Failure doesn’t have to define you. It sounds corny and cliché, but I truly think I’m better for having been so close to winning, and not. I’m very thankful that it turned out the way that it did.”

“Given to Fly” is available now.

Manda Factor is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. Follow Manda on X and email her here. 

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