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For want of a nail, the shoe was lost
Ian Campbell
June 04, 2026
Last night the New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs 105-95 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.
The Knicks — and every celebrity living in New York — are chasing their first NBA championship since 1973.
One of the players on that 1973 team — Phil Jackson — would later win 11 championships while coaching basketball legends like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.
In his book Eleven Rings, he writes about his coaching experience and includes an old proverb illustrating how the devil is always in the details:
For want of a nail, the shoe was lost,
For want of the shoe, the horse was lost,
For want of a horse, the rider was lost,
For want of a rider, the battle was lost,
For want of the battle, the kingdom was lost,
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Beyond describing how a kingdom is lost, the rhyme captures how it feels to organize a race. No matter how much we plan, prepare, and communicate, all it takes is one small thing going wrong — the lead bike gets a flat tire, the safety pins go missing, part of the course floods — for the whole day to unravel.
Whether or not the Knicks win 3 more games and earn that elusive championship, Phil’s lesson about the devil always being in the details is worth keeping in mind.
— Ian
Avoiding registration forms with ChatGPT
 Ian Campbell | Ian CampbellCEO @ Run The Day Uniting communities with 5K races. |