Nope, no 3:0x Marathoner will easily finish a 135 mile race under the best circumstances. Most will DNF after mile 50.
Sub 3 marathoner chiming in and I would be happy to make it mile 30. There's just a level of training, time commitment, fueling, strategy, pain, and patience that I simply don't want to deal with.
30 miles in 110 degree temps is like 300 miles in 60 degree temps. You'll easily do it in cool weather, assuming no significant wind, rain, hail, etc.
The cutoff time is 48 hours. You can literally jog at 10 min/mile pace for an hour, do absolutely nothing for the next 30 minutes, repeat the cycle, and still have 14 hours left for food, sleep, gear changes, or anything else you want to do. The hardest part, assuming good weather in late fall, is the boredom.
On second thought, maybe the hardest part is finding a support crew that'll follow you for 48 hours and provide you with food, drinks, gear, and a place to sleep.
I've never gone under 3 for the marathon, and I'd be willing to bet $100K that I could do it if I were allowed to attempt it in early November and had a support crew.
Pretty sure the support crew has to stay at the starting line.
On second thought, maybe the hardest part is finding a support crew that'll follow you for 48 hours and provide you with food, drinks, gear, and a place to sleep.
I've never gone under 3 for the marathon, and I'd be willing to bet $100K that I could do it if I were allowed to attempt it in early November and had a support crew.
Pretty sure the support crew has to stay at the starting line.
for barkley marathons yes, they do. for badwater they can drive alongside you - you can even have an ice bath/bed in your van if you want.
On second thought, maybe the hardest part is finding a support crew that'll follow you for 48 hours and provide you with food, drinks, gear, and a place to sleep.
I've never gone under 3 for the marathon, and I'd be willing to bet $100K that I could do it if I were allowed to attempt it in early November and had a support crew.
Pretty sure the support crew has to stay at the starting line.
My bad for not following along to see you were talking about badwater. I think that race is so stupid. But weirdly I love Barkleys. Hiking and navigating through the woods seems like a more interesting challenge and I love that barely anyone finishes. It makes finishing special.
But doing badwater in nice weather is a bit of a silly point to make. Of course it’s harder because of the weather. Some insane people like that type of thing and it’s meant to be challenging in that way. I could do badwater if it was a half marathon.
Pretty sure the support crew has to stay at the starting line.
for barkley marathons yes, they do. for badwater they can drive alongside you - you can even have an ice bath/bed in your van if you want.
I'm going to extend that bet to the Barkley. Give me near-ideal weather, a fixed start time of my choice, aid stations every mile or less, and most importantly, a completely marked-out course with no routefinding/navigation challenges, and I'll bet $100K that I could finish it in under 60 hours.
The cutoff time is 48 hours. You can literally jog at 10 min/mile pace for an hour, do absolutely nothing for the next 30 minutes, repeat the cycle, and still have 14 hours left for food, sleep, gear changes, or anything else you want to do. The hardest part, assuming good weather in late fall, is the boredom.
On second thought, maybe the hardest part is finding a support crew that'll follow you for 48 hours and provide you with food, drinks, gear, and a place to sleep.
I've never gone under 3 for the marathon, and I'd be willing to bet $100K that I could do it if I were allowed to attempt it in early November and had a support crew.
Why not do the Barkley Fall Classic in September and report back?
It's obvious to me that most of you have never been to the park where they hold Barkley. It is one of the most miserable places to hold a race, let alone a 100 miler. I've "run" on sections of Barkley (I know the RD, Gary, aka Laz). In my probably total of 20 miles on those trails (some on the same ones repeatedly), I can see why it's so difficult.
I'm telling you every ridge line looks the exact same. You have zero idea in most cases whether you are on the right ridge line or if you are 3 over from it or 7 over.
The trail sucks. It's super technical in most places. It's not well marked, at all. I remember following what markings there are and with a map. All of a sudden I was completely lost. I spent probably close to an hour trying to figure out how to get back. And this was maybe 3 miles into my day.
The climbs are RIDICULOUS. The downhills are even tougher. Road runners have no idea how hard a 1,000 foot climb in less than half a mile is. Heck, I gave up about 500 feet thru it (and hiked back to my car) You're talking 12,000 feet of gain (and equal loss) every "20" mile loop.
I'm telling you every ridge line looks the exact same. You have zero idea in most cases whether you are on the right ridge line or if you are 3 over from it or 7 over.
The trail sucks. ... It's not well marked, at all. I remember following what markings there are and with a map. All of a sudden I was completely lost. I spent probably close to an hour trying to figure out how to get back. And this was maybe 3 miles into my day.
This is precisely why it's so hard. It's not the running, it's the orienteering. Add in sleep deprivation caused by the uncertain start time, throw in some bad weather, and you'll end up with no finishers.
I'm going to extend that bet to the Barkley. Give me near-ideal weather, a fixed start time of my choice, aid stations every mile or less, and most importantly, a completely marked-out course with no routefinding/navigation challenges, and I'll bet $100K that I could finish it in under 60 hours.
Except that's not Barkley.
What you want is basically a 100 mile road race setup like a marathon with water/aid every 1 to 2 miles, timing clocks, mile markers, chip timing, etc...all with a 60 hour time limit? Why in the f would anyone bet you $100k you could do that? I'd question you as a runner if you couldn't do that!
As someone else said, sign up for the Barkley Fall Classic and report back to us after that, please.
I'm going to extend that bet to the Barkley. Give me near-ideal weather, a fixed start time of my choice, aid stations every mile or less, and most importantly, a completely marked-out course with no routefinding/navigation challenges, and I'll bet $100K that I could finish it in under 60 hours.
Except that's not Barkley.
What you want is basically a 100 mile road race setup like a marathon with water/aid every 1 to 2 miles, timing clocks, mile markers, chip timing, etc...all with a 60 hour time limit? Why in the f would anyone bet you $100k you could do that? I'd question you as a runner if you couldn't do that!
As someone else said, sign up for the Barkley Fall Classic and report back to us after that, please.
Meh, if I knew more about your running history/age I'd think about taking this bet. 60h is not nothing. It'd have to be 100k+ expenses to the loser. I hope you're an accomplished ultra guy to be confident in this. You definitely couldn't pay me 100k to attempt this. Maybe we can work something out? If there's a fun prop bet to put together, I'm your huckleberry :)
for barkley marathons yes, they do. for badwater they can drive alongside you - you can even have an ice bath/bed in your van if you want.
I'm going to extend that bet to the Barkley. Give me near-ideal weather, a fixed start time of my choice, aid stations every mile or less, and most importantly, a completely marked-out course with no routefinding/navigation challenges, and I'll bet $100K that I could finish it in under 60 hours.
sure, i would bet the same thing. it's completely irrelevant though & nobody would care if we can do it.
the uncertainty of the race is part of what makes it so special. the start time, the weather, the orienteering, the course map which changes every year etc etc.. the fact is plenty of elite trail runners (in addition to hundreds of more regular folks) have attempted and failed to complete the barkley. which adds to the allure.
This is precisely why it's so hard. It's not the running, it's the orienteering. Add in sleep deprivation caused by the uncertain start time, throw in some bad weather, and you'll end up with no finishers.
Yes, I think we all agree that Barkley is a niche race. I don't think anyone is disputing that. It appeals to a certain demographic. Many, many, many trail runners have zero desire to do Barkley.
To say the uncertain start time, bad weather, orienteering and sleep deprivation is why you'll end up with no finishers isn't true, at all. People have finished the race. They've proven it's possible.
Your problem is that you want comfort. You want familiarity. You want a challenge, but not to hard of one that you might actually fail. Barkley is designed in every way, shape and form to make you fail. But it's also possible to succeed.
What you want is basically a 100 mile road race setup like a marathon with water/aid every 1 to 2 miles, timing clocks, mile markers, chip timing, etc...all with a 60 hour time limit? Why in the f would anyone bet you $100k you could do that? I'd question you as a runner if you couldn't do that!
As someone else said, sign up for the Barkley Fall Classic and report back to us after that, please.
Meh, if I knew more about your running history/age I'd think about taking this bet. 60h is not nothing. It'd have to be 100k+ expenses to the loser. I hope you're an accomplished ultra guy to be confident in this. You definitely couldn't pay me 100k to attempt this. Maybe we can work something out? If there's a fun prop bet to put together, I'm your huckleberry :)
Finishing a normal 100 miler under 60 hours is not a great feat whatsoever, most normal 100 milers have a 30 hour cutoff so that is twice the amount of time even the slowest finishers.
The cutoff time is 48 hours. You can literally jog at 10 min/mile pace for an hour, do absolutely nothing for the next 30 minutes, repeat the cycle, and still have 14 hours left for food, sleep, gear changes, or anything else you want to do. The hardest part, assuming good weather in late fall, is the boredom.
On second thought, maybe the hardest part is finding a support crew that'll follow you for 48 hours and provide you with food, drinks, gear, and a place to sleep.
I've never gone under 3 for the marathon, and I'd be willing to bet $100K that I could do it if I were allowed to attempt it in early November and had a support crew.
Get started on your qualifying now then....and be quiet until you do.
You have officially finished at least FOUR ultra running races of 100 continuous miles or longer, at least one of them between January 1, 2023, and the day you submit your 2024 application. Additionally, you must have been running 100-mile or longer ultras for three years
for barkley marathons yes, they do. for badwater they can drive alongside you - you can even have an ice bath/bed in your van if you want.
I'm going to extend that bet to the Barkley. Give me near-ideal weather, a fixed start time of my choice, aid stations every mile or less, and most importantly, a completely marked-out course with no routefinding/navigation challenges, and I'll bet $100K that I could finish it in under 60 hours.
This is a trail ultra on a well groomed park trail, not the Barkley. This is a brain dead take.
I'm going to extend that bet to the Barkley. Give me near-ideal weather, a fixed start time of my choice, aid stations every mile or less, and most importantly, a completely marked-out course with no routefinding/navigation challenges, and I'll bet $100K that I could finish it in under 60 hours.
This is a trail ultra on a well groomed park trail, not the Barkley. This is a brain dead take.
When a sub sub elite local hobby jogger tells you it's a brain dead take, that is saying something. 5 loops, don't you have some Geometry homework to do or something?
What you want is basically a 100 mile road race setup like a marathon with water/aid every 1 to 2 miles, timing clocks, mile markers, chip timing, etc...all with a 60 hour time limit? Why in the f would anyone bet you $100k you could do that? I'd question you as a runner if you couldn't do that!
As someone else said, sign up for the Barkley Fall Classic and report back to us after that, please.
Meh, if I knew more about your running history/age I'd think about taking this bet. 60h is not nothing. It'd have to be 100k+ expenses to the loser. I hope you're an accomplished ultra guy to be confident in this. You definitely couldn't pay me 100k to attempt this. Maybe we can work something out? If there's a fun prop bet to put together, I'm your huckleberry :)
I've been running since freshman year of high school and am in my early 30s now. Was fairly decent but nowhere close to elite at any distance. My PRs are 4:56 in the 1600 and 3:02 in the marathon. I do about 40-50 miles a week on average, though I have done 60-70 mpw for a few weeks during base phase.
I don't expect to have any takers for that bet. Winning an ultra race is tough and unreachable for most regardless of how much training they do. But completing a 100+ mile ultra in good weather on a well-marked course with plenty of support is easy if you run regularly.
Meh, if I knew more about your running history/age I'd think about taking this bet. 60h is not nothing. It'd have to be 100k+ expenses to the loser. I hope you're an accomplished ultra guy to be confident in this. You definitely couldn't pay me 100k to attempt this. Maybe we can work something out? If there's a fun prop bet to put together, I'm your huckleberry :)
I've been running since freshman year of high school and am in my early 30s now. Was fairly decent but nowhere close to elite at any distance. My PRs are 4:56 in the 1600 and 3:02 in the marathon. I do about 40-50 miles a week on average, though I have done 60-70 mpw for a few weeks during base phase.
I don't expect to have any takers for that bet. Winning an ultra race is tough and unreachable for most regardless of how much training they do. But completing a 100+ mile ultra in good weather on a well-marked course with plenty of support is easy if you run regularly.
No offense but this is like some captain obvious sh!t. Most people that want to run Barkley have finished many 100 milers and are looking for the next challenge. Saying 'it would be easy if not for all the things that make it hard' is besides the point since the point is for it to be hard. Its meant to be possible to finish but just barely.
Its not just the weather, or just the start time or just the unmarked course, or just the books etc... its all those things together that make it so hard.
This is a trail ultra on a well groomed park trail, not the Barkley. This is a brain dead take.
When a sub sub elite local hobby jogger tells you it's a brain dead take, that is saying something. 5 loops, don't you have some Geometry homework to do or something?
Stuck in the airport right now. Flight got delayed :(
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