Forums >Off the Beaten Path>Barkley
My math might be fuzzy, but last time I multiplied 12,000 X 5 I got 60,000, not 120,000.
5 - 20 mile loops = 100 miles.
Age: 50 Weight: 224 Height: 6'3" (Goal weight 195)
Current PR's: Mara 3:14:36* (2017); HM 1:36:13 (2017); 10K 43:59 (2014); 5K 21:12 (2016)
I said my math was bad. But that was 120,000' of change, not gain, compared to the 103,800 mentioned in X's post.
It still looks to me from that elevation profile that it's more than this.
David Horton wrote a great chapter on his experience finishing the Barkley in the book, Running Through the Wall: Personal Encounters with the Ultramarathon---an interesting collection of ultramarathon experiences. Brutal. More of a masochistic undertaking than a race.
The term is "footrace". When asked, one of the rare finishers said he was able to run only about 50% of the time. The term "runners" is used because the competitors come from a running background and will be spending some time running. No one is implying that anyone is running up 54,000 feet.
Calling it a foot race helps make more sense of it.
Here's the cornerstone of my attire should I ever participate in this. I present to you rattlesnake proof overalls. They will fend off many saw briars.
I said my math was bad. But that was 120,000' of change, not gain, compared to the 103,800 mentioned in X's post. It still looks to me from that elevation profile that it's more than this.
Ah, my reading comprehension skills are what is lacking then! Sorry.
Somewhere in some of the recent articles I've read I thought I read something about the 60,000' of elevation gain but I'm not sure.
Yeah, it seems like running is one of several skills you need for this race, but not the main focus. Still, there are time cutoffs, so it probably is necessary to run more than one might normally wish to run with that amount of ascent and descent/in the middle of the night/in fog etc., if you're interested in making the cutoffs. Which it seems many people aren't, necessarily - many seem to go in knowing they're unlikely to finish even one loop, but they start anyway.
The whole enterprise is just so the opposite of normal. I love it. i especially enjoyed this guy's emphasis on the primeval animalistic aspect of it, http://www.mattmahoney.net/barkley/14hallinan.html
mta: True, no female finishers! I would totally crowdfund the chick who was prepared to attempt all five loops (well, except that crowd funding doesn't seem to match the spirit of the event, so I'd just be a fan girl I guess.) Somewhere I came across professional photos of participants, and there is at least one female "fun runner" who - just based on her general demeanor - looks up to the task.
Kalsarikännit
Laz is a deranged man. He is hysterical, he is a genius, and he has been an ultrarunner for an ungodly amount of time. His races are put on for his amusement. Those who participate are players in his game. He gives you just enough to succeed and nothing more. It is low-key and refreshing in this day and age of overly hyped and overly hand-holdy ultras. Barkley may get written up, but there is no hype from within.
His demented sense of humor causes him to find books with great titles to place in the woods.
The late great meA most dangerous gameSouthern discomfortThe idiotWhat to do when you feel lost, alone, and helpless Don't count yourself out: staying fit after 35Death by misadventureThe power of positive thinkingThe road not taken
I want to do it because I want to do it. -Amelia Earhart
True, no female finishers!
I told him in August that I had no desire to do it. He reminded me that as a woman, I wasn't tough enough to finish it. I can't argue with that because no woman has been tough enough to finish it.
Sue Johnston and Beverly Anderson-Abbs are both awesome and incredibly tough. They have only made it 60 miles.
Monkey Mind
Rumor has been for years that the loops are closer to 25-30 miles each, maybe longer.
Laz published an essay in the past 1-2 years in Ultrarunner magazine that really spoke, I think, to his philosophy. He presented the belief that every runner eventually gives up, making a decision to let their fatigue win and his- or herself fail. He used the example of the Backyard ultra, where runners decide to go slower and not make the cutoff, or to stop going onto the next lap. Same for Barkley. This year, everybody gave up...
...wish I could find the essay.
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
From what I understand it will be easier and with more downhills than last year.
Laz has already made the BFC course harder for 2015... Still over 320 slots available.
Laz has already made the BFC course harder for 2015...
Still over 320 slots available.
"Any idiot can run a marathon. It takes a special kind of idiot to run an ultramarathon." - Alan Cabelly
For the Barkley Classic 50K, you definitely need to run what you can in order to meet the cutoff. My slowest mile was 48 minutes up Rat Jaw. Fastest was 7:51 which was where we came out on the road at the end.
Andy
To finish you must average under 36 minutes per mile. Hey, plenty of respect to the folks who complete but this isn't running as I recognize it --- more like ultra endurance power-effing-hiking and survivalism. Below is what I found when searching for a course map. It's old and a few more people have finished it.
To finish you must average under 36 minutes per mile.
Hey, plenty of respect to the folks who complete but this isn't running as I recognize it --- more like ultra endurance power-effing-hiking and survivalism.
Below is what I found when searching for a course map. It's old and a few more people have finished it.
Actually, super-elites don't finish. Smart people do. This is really a race for engineering types.
I am intrigued that it's not just the super-elites that have finished it. But then, it has very little to do with running.
bhearn, I'm looking at you
2015 BFC was harder and longer than 2014.
Rumors are that 2016 will be even more so.
Half Faster Runners 2023
So what type of weather do the lunatics have to deal with at this race? Would it be wet or humid or windy? i'm not familiar enough with the area to guess.
Half Fanatic #9292.
Game Admin for RA Running Game 2023.
Watch the movie on Netflix. They say, correctly, that runners experience all the weather. Snow. Rain. Fog. Heat. Ice. Humidity. Beautiful blue skies. All of it. Sometimes over just a few hours.