The Barkley Marathons Make the Boston Marathon Look Easy
The Barkley Marathons, held annually in Tennessee, are enough to make even the most seasoned athlete weak in the knees.
Just so we’re all on the same page, let’s start by defining a marathon. A marathon is a long-distance footrace of 26.2 miles. You know, like our beloved Boston Marathon. The Barkley Marathons (notice the “s” there; that makes it plural) is a 100-mile footrace. It consists of five 20+ mile loops of an off-trail course in Frozen Head State Park in Morgan County, Tennessee. The race takes place annually in late March or early April.
Another way the Barkley Marathons differs from your average marathon is that there’s a strict time limit. You have sixty hours to finish the five loops. That’s a lot on a body. A runner would have to make note of their pace on the first lap, then figure out how much rest they can get away with over the sixty-hour window. And that’s not the only bit of mental gymnastics runners have to do.
The course itself is unmarked, with no aid stations; just a pair of watering stations. Instead of aid stations and signage, there are books. Anywhere between 9 and 14 books are stashed along the course route, and runners are required to tear out the page that corresponds with their bib number, which changes after every loop they complete. You see where this is going, right? Barkley is an endurance race that pushes both body and mind to their absolute limit.
The Barkley Marathons Make the Boston Marathon Look Easy
So who the hell is running this insane race? And who’s finishing it? The answer to both questions is “not many people.” The Barkley is not advertised, so you’ve got to be a heavy-hitter on the ultramarathon circuit to be in the know. Registration is limited to 40 runners, all of whom must submit an essay titled “Why I Should be Allowed to Run in the Barkley” and complete various other subject-to-change registration requirements. But hey, the registration fee is only $1.60!
Those (un)lucky enough to be chosen have to be on their toes on race day. The Barkley can start any time between midnight and noon. A conch shell is blown one hour before race time to give runners time to prepare. The race is officially underway when race director and co-founder Gary “Lazarus Lake” Cantrell lights a cigarette.
The Barkley was first run in 1986. As of 2023, the full, five-loop race has only been completed 21 times by 17 runners. But hey, a record THREE runners finished in 2023, so perhaps there’s a trend forming? You can learn more about the Barkley and see who’s finished it here. And if your interest is really piqued, check out the documentary below.