Barkley Marathons

[IROC]

This is a local race that I didn't think many people knew about. It is held about 15 miles as the crow flies from where I am sitting right now. I work with a guy who has been trying to get into the race for years, but the entry process is very strange.

I grew up in this area and can't imagine running a race in these mountains. Absolutely brutal.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/24/sport/aurelien-sanchez-barkley-marathons-ultrarunning-spt-intl/index.html

[greglepore]

Yeah, they are insane. The old coot is quite the character as well.

[masraum]

Yep, ultramarathons in general are pretty insane, but this one certainly takes the cake.

Has come up before
The Barkley Marathons

[zakthor]

I know a guy that did it. He also does other secret insane races.

He is angry that after the documentary that suddenly Barkley has all the publicity, says it takes away from the purity of the event.

I'm glad people do stuff like this, but even more glad that I don't.

[DonDavis]

Yeah, thanks Steve for pulling that up. My friend is trying to get back in. When he does I will absolutely be part of his support team.

And Mike, when he does, you will have to meet us there.

[IROC]

I missed that earlier thread! My apologies.

I will be there for sure. I can almost see those mountains out my office window.

Edit: 7 miles from my office (as the crow flies)

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by zakthor

I know a guy that did it. He also does other secret insane races.

He is angry that after the documentary that suddenly Barkley has all the publicity, says it takes away from the purity of the event.

I'm glad people do stuff like this, but even more glad that I don't.

I thought that the reason it was in the news is that there were multiple finishers this year, where in years past, it would be unusual to even have one participant finishing before the 60 hour time limit.

"The purity of the event" is kind of a funny sentiment for a physical test that makes grown men cry like babies. It's a funny world where individuals can endure harder and harder feats of mind over body but as a species (especially males) our threshold for any discomfort continues trending lower.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by IROC

I missed that earlier thread! My apologies.

I will be there for sure. I can almost see those mountains out my office window.

Edit: 7 miles from my office (as the crow flies)

No worries. The weird thing is that if you search for "barkley marathon" you only get one hit. If you search for "barkley" you get a bunch of hits and it includes this thread and the old thread. I only did the search because this seemed familiar.

It's not a big deal to start a new thread on stuff. We've probably got 3-6 threads on darn near anything that you can imagine already, but that's not slowing us down. And it's not unusual for the threads to be very different when they are separated by 5, 10, 15 or more years.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

I thought that the reason it was in the news is that there were multiple finishers this year, where in years past, it would be unusual to even have one participant finishing before the 60 hour time limit.

"The purity of the event" is kind of a funny sentiment for a physical test that makes grown men cry like babies. It's a funny world where individuals can endure harder and harder feats of mind over body but as a species (especially males) our threshold for any discomfort continues trending lower.

Apparently, no finishers since 2017 until the most recent. It's crazy.

[Bill Douglas]

Sounds easy. I used to run that far to get to school each day. Then had to run home because I forgot my homework...


It must be hell if only that many have finished.

[TimT]

A girl I dated a few years ago used to do these endurance races

What is Ragnar

Yea she was quite able to kick my butt..

[ckissick]

Then there's this on skis:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/02/16/sports/last-skier-standing-2023/

[LEAKYSEALS951]

A couple of older people I know do that ultramarathon stuff.
They have literally worn their bodies out. They walk around like they've got a broken front coil spring and a thrust angle alignment problem.

You can spot em' a mile away' in a regular marathon because everyone is running normally, and they are all out of kilter

Freaky bunch!

[DonDavis]

I've done Ragnar, it's literally a joke compared to real runs.

Two teams of 6 runners taking turns to cover a long distance. Ours was 200 miles over 30 hours. My longest run was 6 miles and there were many HOURS between runs. I ran six legs varying from 3-6 miles.

It was really fun, great folks and lots of laughs. I would not categorize it as "grueling".

Am I reading this correctly? There were 3 Barkley finishers this year? I bet next year there will be zero finishers. Cuz Laz is a Hasher, he'll eff the runners next year.

[zakthor]

Originally Posted by masraum

No worries. The weird thing is that if you search for "barkley marathon" you only get one hit. If you search for "barkley" you get a bunch of hits and it includes this thread and the old thread. I only did the search because this seemed familiar.

It's not a big deal to start a new thread on stuff. We've probably got 3-6 threads on darn near anything that you can imagine already, but that's not slowing us down. And it's not unusual for the threads to be very different when they are separated by 5, 10, 15 or more years.

We’re all bots so what difference does it make.

Ya all sorts of people do ragnar, social event. it’s silly to compare with stuff like Barkley.

[Jay Auskin]

Most anyone can run a marathon if they really want to. I've done three over the last 30 years.

The Barkley marathon is nuts.