The Barkley Marathon happened earlier than ever this year over Valentine’s Day weekend. Lazarus “Laz” Lake lit his cigarette signaling the start of the race at 6 am, and runners were off to complete the treacherous 20-mile loop. This year’s race was both the earliest in the calendar year, and in the day.
This event has long been rooted in a mystery of intrigue as an invite only race, with no clear directive on how to gain that invite. Applicants must write an essay and send that piece of literature to Laz, along with a $1.60 application fee, representing one penny per mile for both the 60-mile and 100-mile races payment. Forty runners are selected each year from the entire world. Details about how and when to apply are kept largely secret, with no official website or social media page.
If selected, you are given the race date, but not the start time. Runners sleep near the start gate in Frozen Head State Park, located in Morgan County, Tennessee, until they hear the conch shell blown. At that point they have one hour to get to the start gate and prepare for Laz to light his cigarette.
Along the extremely different course terrain are 9-15 hidden books where runners must find the page associated with their bib number, tear the page from the book, and carry it with them. When the loop is finished, the runner must present all of the pages in order to avoid disqualification.
Outsiders can follow along live with @keithdunn on Twitter/X. Keith posts updates throughout the entire event and is the main content contributor for the race.
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Once you begin the loop, you are not allowed any outside aid. No pacers or support are allowed, so oftentimes runners try to stick together. It’s also helpful to find a Barkley veteran runner and stick close, as the trail is difficult to navigate and getting off course can happen quickly.
Oh, and did I mention that no GPS watches or cell phones are allowed? You are given a standard watch from Laz which only shows the overall time so that you can assess where you are at against the 60 hour time clock.
Runners have a 60-hour cutoff to achieve the 100 plus miles, although a 60-mile completion counts as a “fun run” for finishers. Once a runner finishes, due to a time cutoff or a personal choice, a bugler plays “Taps” signifying the end of the line for the runner. As “The Race That Eats Its Young”, this race has an intentionally unclear application process, is nearly impossible to finish, and forces runners to perform in conditions that are almost always hazardous, the Barkley Marathon has been completed only 26 times by 20 runners since 1995.
This year no runners finished the 100 mile event, and one runner received fun run status.