Forums >Off the Beaten Path>Barkley
Good Bad & The Monkey
I actually knew that the rice was hot and not from social media but because I know a lot of the people who are involved and I’m nosy.
I'm running somewhere tomorrow. It's going to be beautiful. I can't wait.
Poor baby
People love to push their limits, I guess it's human nature.
The course won. Nobody completed more than a Fun Run this year.
Shoe Alarmist
The course neither lost nor won. It was just there, unconcerned with the idiocy of running.
People should really train more before signing up for such a thing.
I lost my rama
The course neither lost nor won. It was just there, unconcerned with the idiocy of running. People should really train more before signing up for such a thing.
Haha! And yes!
3/17 - NYC Half
4/28 - Big Sur Marathon DNS
6/29 - Forbidden Forest 30 Hour
8/29 - A Race for the Ages - will be given 47 hours
Is that you, Laz?
No.
The course won.
So bdub, when are you signing up?
Problem Child
is anyone else weirdly fascinated by the Barkley marathons? (This is the 100 mile race in Tennessee that's so impossible, only like 15 people have ever finished, and nobody did this year). I've been reading race reports from people who attempted it. The reports are addictive. I think it's the combination of the toughness of the course plus all the crazy little details, like the fact that you have to find books hidden along the course and tear out pages to prove you were there...and they play taps whenever a runner drops out...among other bizarre little touches. This recap from one of two finishers in 2013 really shows the depths of madness a person reaches after 40-plus hours on the course: http://barkleymarathons.com/?articles=finish-14-nick-hollon-2013-5741-unofficial has as anyone here ever applied to run this? Would you ever? It sounds like hell,and yet I can totally see the appeal, though I know I don't have even .000001% of the required toughness to even contemplate starting loop one.
is anyone else weirdly fascinated by the Barkley marathons? (This is the 100 mile race in Tennessee that's so impossible, only like 15 people have ever finished, and nobody did this year). I've been reading race reports from people who attempted it. The reports are addictive. I think it's the combination of the toughness of the course plus all the crazy little details, like the fact that you have to find books hidden along the course and tear out pages to prove you were there...and they play taps whenever a runner drops out...among other bizarre little touches. This recap from one of two finishers in 2013 really shows the depths of madness a person reaches after 40-plus hours on the course:
http://barkleymarathons.com/?articles=finish-14-nick-hollon-2013-5741-unofficial
has as anyone here ever applied to run this? Would you ever? It sounds like hell,and yet I can totally see the appeal, though I know I don't have even .000001% of the required toughness to even contemplate starting loop one.
Not really. After I learned about the history of it and how the first finishers didn't have anything NEAR what they have today the entire thing has lost it's appeal. Just everything about it seems to ruin what it was. An attempt to escape prison. Big's Backyard is more appealing than Barkley at this point to me. Plus I think there is only 1% of the runners who start the race capable of finishing. When people want to get a 3 loop finish they're honestly just taking up space in the main race. There is already a 3 loop event at a different time of the year. I'm also not really attracted to having to navigate the course using a compass and aid stations full of frozen water.
Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.
VDOT 53.37
5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22
There is??
There is already a 3 loop event at a different time of the year.
You do realize the post you quoted was 4 years old?
I've been tempted to apply but haven't pulled the trigger. I think to have any chance at all you have to be obsessed with the race, and I'm not. Too many other priorities. I did meet John Fegyveresi (Barkley finisher I mentioned several pages/years ago) at Spartathlon last year. Interesting guy.
I am signed up for Big's Backyard this year. But that's a backup in case I get bumped from the 24-hour team; Worlds conflicts with it. In a normal year I think I would not be competitive at BBY, but with Courtney and Johan at Worlds this year, maybe I would be in the mix...
Not sure what you mean about "how the first finishers didn't have anything NEAR what they have today". Laz makes it harder every time anyone finishes. It is much harder now than it was originally. Incidentally the first Barkley finisher was British expat Mark Williams. I ran with him a bit at Javelina a couple years ago, not knowing who he was, chatting about Spartathlon, which he's run something like 15 times. Another interesting guy.
1. You zombied a post from 2015.
2. Enjoy Big's.
3. 3 loop event - the loop isn't the same. So, yeah.
4. If you don't wanna run Barkley, cool. Don't.
5. The only time it was an attempt to escape prison, it wasn't organized by Laz. That we know of. Anyway, James Earl Ray is dead.
The other Barkley, the Barkley Fall Classic, it is NOT a 3 loop course.
At. All.
Speaking of age. Have you considered another Laz creation - A Race for the Ages (Labor Day Weekend)? You're getting up there so I think you have a good shot at winning. Not that you're old, but....
I'm in this year. Given 47 hours and hoping to get 157.2.
Speaking of age. Have you considered another Laz creation - A Race for the Ages (Labor Day Weekend)? You're getting up there so I think you have a good shot at winning. Not that you're old, but.... I'm in this year. Given 47 hours and hoping to get 157.2.
That would be the Laz race for me to do; I think I'd have an excellent shot at winning. But the timing never works for me.
Good luck!