I interpreted the "spectacular" part of the fail a bit differently. The author had options to either 1) try for right at 3 hours, and either succeed or fail, o

I interpreted the "spectacular" part of the fail a bit differently. The author had options to either 1) try for right at 3 hours, and either succeed or fail, or 2) push harder, get a much better time, and perhaps succeed but risk putting himself in a state where he did not finish at all. The failure to finish at all due to the extra reach is the spectacular fail referred to.