The full five-loop race has only been completed 18 times by 15 different runners. The book titles have become part of Barkley folklore and previously included Death Walks in the Woods, The Valley of Death, Almost Home, The Body in the Woods, Fool, The End, A Week in the Woods, and The Idiot.Įach year there will be one runner who Lazarus believes has no place being in the race as they have no chance at all of even completing the first loop. Failure to present a page from every book at the end of each loop results in disqualification. An additional ‘fee’ may be an item of clothing such as socks, or a shirt – reputedly based on whatever Lazarus is short of at the time.Įach competitor has to find books hidden around the course and tear out the page corresponding to their race number. The entry fee is reportedly just $1.60 plus, for first-time runners, a car registration plate from their home state or country. The Barkley was made famous by a 2014 Netflix documentary ‘The Barkley Marathons – The Race That Eats Its Young’. Lazarus and his friends felt they would have done a lot better, and the rest is history. He was captured after covering just eight miles in 54 hours. The race was born following James Earl Ray’s (the killer of Martin Luther King) escape from a Tennessee prison in 1985. Roughly 80% of the race is off-trail and there are no aid stations – just two water points. The route changes every year and, as there is no GPS allowed, it is impossible to review. Any runners who manage to complete just three loops are awarded ‘fun run’ finisher status. In reality the loops are more like 26-miles long meaning that anybody who completes all five will have covered 130 miles. The Barkley Marathons is made up of five 20-mile loops with more than 54,000 feet of ascent, each loop starts and finishes at the yellow gate where competitors and support teams make camp. If successful, you will receive a ‘letter of condolence’. Your application must include an essay detailing why you feel you should be allowed to race.
You first need to find out when and where to send applications from a previous competitor. The race is restricted to just 40 entries and the first challenge is to be considered.
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