How do you leave a fight while actively defending yourself?

Long story short, got physically assaulted by 2 people (stronger than me) months ago, with punches to the head. I knew I was outnumbered and outpowered, I walked out of the fight, without even trying to fight or defend against them. (Disclaimer: Don't have a very tall build, physically fit but have little to no experience in self-defence/martial arts)
Though a traumatic experience, but got a first hand experience, of how it feels to get punched and be in a fight where you are outnumbered.

In my opinion, I chose the best out of all the worst outcomes. Now my question is:

1. How do I escape a fight, while actively defending myself from oncoming attacks? I kept my back towards them attackers, so was heavily situationally disoriented. Should I have just made a sprint out of the fight?