Thoughts on Barkley Marathons - Designed for Failure

All distance runner wrote:

I personally think Laz cherry picks people he know wont succeed (i.e. worlds toughest mudders, thru hikers, and gary robbins) to race Barkleys because he wants the reputation to remain as a race that rarely has finishers.

Gary Robbins is a good runner...but an elite? no. He has won some 100s like HURT but comes in hours later in the competitive ones.

Will Laz ever invite a Kilian, Francois or Xavier? Probably not.

Well you're here talking about it, and I'm responding to it, so that probably gives him what he wants...the attention / notoriety. But to be fair, I think it is more of an adventure race, not strictly about running. You have to know how to navigate for instance, and there is a lot of bushwhacking involved.

I'd like to see a Marine recon team try it to be honest.

Ridiculous to have a race and the course is not marked. That's what the sport of Orienteering is for, but for a running race, I don't get it.

I think if any of those famous ultra runners applied laz would let them in. its sort of a different type of race than a hilly ultra. i don't think those runners are interested, and hence dont apply

I don't get the obsession with Barkley in the ultra community. To small of a sample size run this race for it to be given the accolades it does.

Too*

If they ever had dry days in the 40s-50s, and invited logical people instead of whack-jobs and guys who think it's an ultramarathon, this is a non-issue. This is only remotely difficult because of the number of laps, and insanity in checkpoint protocol (pulling correct pages out of a book). It's a psych-out thing, but not terribly difficult for someone used to the bushwhacking.

Walmsley would complete it, no doubt.

Thoroughly confused because a good number of thru hikers HAVE completed The Barkley Marathons. Andrew Thompson, Brett Maune, Brian Robinson Blake Wood, David Horton. I'm probably missing others (Fegy? Not sure if he had done an entire thru hike but feel like he did..Basham?)

I'm sure if the elites wanted in, they would apply. But The Barkley isn't your normal trail race. That's part of the mystique I guess. Part of the allure. It's so "out there" that most people can't comprehend what it would take to finish...and that is what is fascinating to them about the race.

As 3 time finisher Jared Campbell once said "Being able to run a 7 minute mile isn't going to help you at Barkley."

Based on an infamous prison break, Gary Cantrell has succeeded in retaining the life-or-death vibe of the original incident. He’s said that you’ve got to keep your head up & maintain a suspicious alertness. You can’t just allow yourself to wallow in “pure running & suffering.”

Pure running & suffering types are welcome to enter every OTHER Cantrell event, ha ha.

All distance runner wrote:

Will Laz ever invite a Kilian, Francois or Xavier? Probably not.

I think if they wanted in, they could find a way. Maybe not, but it's not really about fast racing anyway. John Fegyveresi was a mid-pack runner who finished by nailing the navigation and toughing it out.

I'm not sure about that. He has a tendency to push too hard and blow up. I'd put him down to blaze the first two to three laps before absolutely blowing up in the fourth and getting disqualified

JamesTheAmateur wrote:

I'm not sure about that. He has a tendency to push too hard and blow up. I'd put him down to blaze the first two to three laps before absolutely blowing up in the fourth and getting disqualified

I am joking. Barkleys is a sick version of an endurance adventure race rather than remote close to an ultra run.

Conditions are looking quite a bit different this year. Anyone expected to finish this year?

Needledik wrote:

I want to see one of these so called elite female runners take a stab and finish even one lap. Elite females....hahaahahaa...

Amelia Boone finished a lap last year?

Where can one find the best coverage of the race?

Mike Wardian did it - but missed the first time cut off because he got lost.

https://www.runnersworld.com/news/a20851948/crazy-tough-only-one-person-officially-finishes-barkley-marathons/

All distance runner wrote:

I personally think Laz cherry picks people he know wont succeed (i.e. worlds toughest mudders, thru hikers, and gary robbins) to race Barkleys because he wants the reputation to remain as a race that rarely has finishers.

Gary Robbins is a good runner...but an elite? no. He has won some 100s like HURT but comes in hours later in the competitive ones.

Will Laz ever invite a Kilian, Francois or Xavier? Probably not.

It's unique for sure. I was listening to a podcast with Nick Hollon now Nick De La Rosa, and he cited why it was so difficult with the time cut off and many other variables. The Tennessee Mts are TRUE beast coast esque style with never ending up and down, briars and just wicked weather. It's not just a single track climbing up steep hills. Toss in the navigating and the intense fog that can derail runners. You get very sleep deprived, toss in the elements, it's the perfect storm.

There's an estimated 60,000 ft of climbing and nobody knows the true distance, most of the runners believe it's 105-120 miles.

Gary Robbins was 6th at Western States in 2010 and has the HURT record. Know your history.

Lane Meyer wrote:

I don't get the obsession with Barkley in the ultra community. To small of a sample size run this race for it to be given the accolades it does.

There's a movie about it that's why it is famous. Apparently people have a lot of free time on their hands to watch documentaries and read non-fiction. I don't get it personally, unlike text based social media that's hardly something one can do when distracted from doing his job.