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| Barkley Marathons Selfie (Photo: Eric Fritz) |
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Loop 2, Top of Rat Jaw with Brandon and Husky (Photo: Kendra Miller)
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| The whole world holds it's breath after Laz only counts 12 of 13 pages! (Photo: Karen Jackson) |
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| Finished the Fun Run... AGAIN! YES! (Photo: Billy Simpson) |
Quick Summary of Failures
This past weekend was the 31st
edition of the Barkley Marathons held at Frozen Head State Park in
Tennessee. This race is considered one
of the most difficult 100 mile races on the planet. The five loop race has 67,000 feet of climb
(and 67,000 feet of descent) which is more than any other 100 mile race. Since 1986 only 15 runners out of just over
1000 have finished within the 60 hour cutoff.
The loop is unmarked, brutally steep, and is almost entirely off-trail;
the only provided aid are a couple of water caches (gallon jugs of water); no GPSs,
pacers, or cell phones, and only the race provided wrist-watch could be
worn. To prove you’ve completed the loop
correctly, runners must locate several books spread around the loop (typically
at the high and low points of mountains) and remove a particular page and turn
them in at the completion of the loop.
I trained harder than ever for
this year’s race, lots of hill climbing and long, solo hikes and runs. My goal was to finish all five loops under
the cutoff. Unfortunately some early
navigational issues during the first loop in the dark and heavy fog slowed just
about everybody down including myself. I
ended up a couple hours slower than expected on the first loop. However, the second loop (opposite direction)
went much better with only a few navigational issues, but the reverse loop is a
lot more tricky and the climbs much steeper which makes it a slower loop
anyhow. By the third loop I was still
feeling very good but was well outside the time frame needed to be allowed to
start a fourth loop (runners must start 4th loop within 36 hours),
however I still had time to finish the loop under the cutoff for a “Fun Run”
finish (3 loops under 40 hours). I
finished the Fun Run in 39:03 and was just 1 of 6 runners (40 starters) who
managed 3 loops or more; most quit after the first loop. Two runners made it to the fifth and final
loop but only one managed to complete the course correctly and under the final
time limit; he was just the 15th finisher! This was my 8th start and second
Fun Run finish; only 34 people have finished Fun Run (or further) 2 times or
more in the history of the race.
