The run is a 100-mile race that starts and finishes at Frozen Head State Park. Runners must complete the loop within 60 hours. The course consists of five 20-mile (32 km) loops, with each loop getting progressively more difficult. Most years the distance exceeds 100 miles by a fair margin.
The Barkley Marathons is an ultramarathon trail race held in Tennessee, United States. The race was first held in 1986 and has been held annually since then. It is named after Gary "Lazarus Lake" Cantrell, who came up with the race's concept and co-founded it.
The run is a 100-mile race that starts and finishes at Frozen Head State Park. Runners must complete the loop within 60 hours. The course consists of five 20-mile (32 km) loops, with each loop getting progressively more difficult. Most years the distance exceeds 100 miles by a fair margin.
There are a number of unique features of the race, including its use of books as checkpoints. Runners must tear out a particular page (unique to their number) in books along the route. This is the race director's method of tracking who completes each lap.
The Barkley Marathons has been described as "the most difficult footrace in the world" and is considered one of the most prestigious ultramarathons. It has a very low start list count each year, and an extremely low finisher rate, with only 15 runners completing the race in its 30-year history.
Registering for the race is a challenge as there is no website or instructions on how to actually sign up. And it's not broadcast anywhere.
A 2014 documentary titled The Barkley Marathons - The Race That Eats It's Young pushed the race into the mainstream and gave it a cult status among ultrarunners.
(We give away a lot of the stuff we test)
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