And finishers experience a total of 120,000 feet of elevation change throughout the course, the equivalent of climbing and descending Mount Everest twice, according to a 2014 documentary called " The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young." Each of the race's five 20-mile loops is really more like 26 miles, most say. If ultramarathons are about testing human limits, a race like Barkley is about confronting the point at which people fail while facing those limits - or redefining success and failure entirely. In Barkley parlance, that's considered a "fun run." A runner named Gary Robbins came closest, completing three of the five loops of the course.
In 2018, a year with particularly miserable course conditions, no one finished the race. Since then, there have been only 15 finishers. The first Barkley race was held in 1986, but the course distance was bumped up to at least 100 miles - probably 130 miles, depending on who you ask - in 1989. It often indicates a user profile.įor a runner who tries to enter the Barkley Marathons, one thing is certain: They have almost no chance of finishing. Fail to bring back all 13 pages and you are disqualified.Account icon An icon in the shape of a person's head and shoulders. To ensure no shortcuts are taken, 13 books (with titles such as “Heart of Darkness,” “A Time to Die”) are hidden along the routes and runners must tear a page from the book corresponding with their bib number. Instead, runners have to make notes from a master map and then navigate their way through often thick undergrowth with nothing more than a compass. Oh, and there are no fixed trails to follow.
Gradients are commonly steeper than 40 degrees. Runners who make it to the end will ascend and descend 120,000 feet - the equivalent of climbing up and down Mount Everest twice. What makes the Barkley so fiendishly tough is the unforgiving terrain of Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee. There are many longer ultra-marathons, some of which take place in 40-degree heat. To complete the Barkley Marathons, you need to navigate five 20-mile loops of the course within 60 hours. Indeed, in its 33-year history, there have only been 15 finishers in a field containing the world’s most elite ultra-marathon runners. It took place last weekend, but you will not find any list of winners: for the second successive year no-one completed it. More mean-spirited than Jose Mourinho protecting a 1-0 first-leg lead, more devious than an Eddie Jones press conference. Billing itself as the “Race That Eats Its Young”, the Barkley Marathons is the most evil event in sport.
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