Eduardo Rojas Piedra once again finished a marathon in under three hours. His journey, however, shows that growth also means redefining our personal measure of success.
A goal that once seemed extraordinary
When he turned 40, Eduardo Rojas Piedra set himself the goal of running a marathon in under three hours. His personal best at the time was 3:25:51. The challenge meant cutting more than 25 minutes from his time over a distance where every improvement demands preparation, consistency, and a remarkable ability to sustain effort.
The path was not linear. A first opportunity in Paris was disrupted by the pandemic. Then came a virtual marathon in 3:02 and further attempts until he finally broke the three-hour barrier. What began as an ambitious target eventually became a result Eduardo was able to repeat.
Breaking three hours was no longer the finish line
His documented recent results show that progression: 2:52:00 in London, 2:47:57 in Sacramento, 2:50:59 in Boston, and 2:47:49 in New York. New York remains the fastest time among these records.
In Buenos Aires, Eduardo completed his 17th marathon in a net time of 2:56:27. He once again finished under three hours and repeated the goal he had originally set when he turned 40. Yet Buenos Aires was also the slowest marathon in this documented recent cycle.
Both statements can be true at the same time: 2:56:27 is an extraordinary result in absolute terms, and it can still feel insufficient to someone who has turned breaking three hours into a new starting point.
Why can a sub-three-hour marathon feel like it is not enough?
Goals change when we stop looking at them from a distance and prove that we can achieve them. Eduardo’s original objective did not disappear; it became part of his identity as a runner. Finishing in under three hours stopped being the exception and became the standard from which he evaluates his next challenges.
That change does not diminish the achievement. It expresses a different kind of ambition. The question is no longer simply whether he can cross a barrier that once seemed far away, but how much further he can improve, how he can sustain a demanding level, and which decisions will allow him to keep moving forward.
His reflection after Buenos Aires does not need to be read as a response to failure. It can be understood as the perspective of someone who achieved a meaningful goal, raised his own expectations, and knows that experience does not eliminate the desire to progress.
Experience also changes how success is measured
Achieving a goal does not make it irrelevant; it turns it into part of the standard. What once seemed extraordinary becomes the foundation from which the next step is measured. For Eduardo, running a marathon in under three hours is no longer only a dream fulfilled. It is a benchmark he built for himself and from which he can continue to grow.
Continuous improvement begins precisely there. When an objective no longer challenges us because we have learned how to achieve it, we need a new one that demands more from us. Not to deny what has already been accomplished, but to prevent yesterday’s success from becoming tomorrow’s limit.
A new strategy for excellence
Raising the goal also requires changing the strategy. A greater challenge cannot be met by endlessly repeating what has already worked. It calls for reviewing decisions, learning from results, and developing new capabilities. Excellence is not about preserving a record; it is about building the method that can improve it.
From that perspective, Buenos Aires does not contradict Eduardo’s story. It confirms it. Completing his 17th marathon in 2:56:27 shows that the original goal remains embedded in his performance. The fact that this result can now feel insufficient reveals something else: his ambition has already moved toward a new frontier.
The same principle behind Eduardo’s leadership at ERP Lawyers
The same principle can be seen in the way Eduardo has led ERP Lawyers. Throughout more than 14 years, his vision has combined legal excellence and human closeness with strong processes, continuous improvement, and international standards. The firm has incorporated digital tools, strengthened its communication channels, and maintained a weekly program of legal content designed to make complex information clearer for clients.
Its achievements—including reaching the Consolidated Level of the Programa a la Excelencia Empresarial after three consecutive years of recognition from the Costa Rican Chamber of Industries—are not treated as an endpoint. They validate an achieved standard while increasing the responsibility to keep innovating, refining processes, and delivering an increasingly consistent service.
The parallel is not simply about discipline. It is about leadership: turning every achievement into a foundation rather than a ceiling. In both a marathon and a law firm, experience helps identify what already works; ambition demands that we ask what must change to reach the next level.
Continuous improvement begins after reaching the goal
Eduardo’s Buenos Aires story is not about diminishing the value of a sub-three-hour marathon. It is about understanding what happens when an extraordinary goal becomes the norm: a new objective is needed to restore the challenge and to develop a new strategy for excellence.
That is the deeper meaning of continuous improvement: celebrating what has been achieved, incorporating it into the standard, and moving forward again. Success is not merely reaching the finish line once; it is learning how to build the next starting point.
