5 Ultra-Cool Ways to Geek Out About the 2023 Barkley Marathons

No one has finished the Barkley Marathons since 2017.

😲It's one of the toughest 100-mile ultras in the world, where even the most grizzled ultrarunners often fail to go the distance.

But something happened last week at Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee, that changes EVERYTHING.

👉Need a little reminder nothing is impossible?

📉After a five-year 100% fail rate, three runners crossed the finish line of the Barkley Marathons before the 60-hour time limit.

Curious about this year's race and ultrarunning lore of the Barkely Marathons?

Check out these FIVE ultra-cool places to geek out about the race.

Meet Keith Dunn. 

He's a long-time Barkley Marathons fan who's been reporting on this race for more than a decade.

Think of him like an embedded reporter, giving you all the details:

• Who's there?
• What's happening?
• What's the drop out rate look like?
• Is anyone still out there on the course?
• What's it like?

During this year's Barkley Marathons, he posted regular updates for 59 hours, with news and commentary like:

• Start. "The conch was blown at 8:54 a.m. The 2023 Barkley Marathon begins in one hour."
• Race rules. "GPS watches are not allowed on course. Runners are given a cheap watch that is set to race time.  This year, one of the watches is a touch screen watch that barely works at all."
• Loop 1.  "Through the tower so far (actual descriptions given to me): guy with glasses, guy with funny pants, nondescript guy, a real big smiling guy, a tan guy, the guy with a big grin, small European woman, tall guy with Mohawk-ish hair, another guy, tall guy with black beard."
• Runner update.  "One runner, after finishing his loop and dropping, cooked an egg burrito while showering. Like, took a camp stove and skillet into the shower, cooked the eggs, etc., and ate the tortilla. In the shower."
• Loop 5. "John is limping, Aurelian is sprinting.  In each of their minds there is a halfway point in loop five, and both want to reach that point first.  We have a race."

He also chronicled the demise of runners as they dropped out of the race or failed to meet a cutoff time.

And he was at the yellow-gate finish when three runners finished the race this year.

For a play-by-play of the 2023 Barkley Marathons, check out Dunn's Twitter updates from March 14-19.

Even if you don't have any plans to run an ultramarathon, this documentary provides a snapshot of how tough this race really is.

In the 2014 film, The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young, the directors take you on a journey that shows you what it takes to be part of this race, including things like:

• The unusual application process
• The quirky race fee
• Race director Lazarus Lake's curiosity to test human potential
• The book-navigation challenge every runner has to complete
• The storied history of the course tied to a prison escape
• Getting lost
• Dehydration
• Fatigue
• Hallucinations
• Blisters and other injuries
• Perseverance to go the distance, and much more.

You can watch The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young on YouTube.

Ever wonder how Lazarus Lake even dreamed up The Barkley's Marathons held in rugged terrain in rural east Tennessee?

Ultrarunner, author and podcast host Davy Crockett details the backstory of the Barkley Marathons, including

•  Race director Lazarus Lake's (formerly known as Gary Cantrell) early days as a marathon runner and ultrarunner
• The Brushy Mountain State Prison and Tennessee's Cumberland Mountains where the race is held
• James Earl Ray’s (who assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.) escape into the mountains in 1977 that lasted 54.5 hours before he was captured.
• And much more in Ultrarunning History Podcast #19: Barkley Marathons - The Birth

Davy also recapped The 2023 Barkley Marathons HERE.

"The interest in the Barkley Marathons worldwide is pretty incredible," says Davy.

"The recap post I made on the Ultrarunning History Facebook page went viral and was seen by more than one million people. The recap article was read by people in 129 countries so far."

Davy Crockett was also featured in The Rundown:

• Run 100 Miles: Meet the Old Guy Who's Finished 107+ Ultras 

Lazarus Lake was recently featured in a story published in The New York Times written by Jared Beasley.

• Life Isn’t Fair. He Didn’t Want This Race to Be, Either

👉You may need a subscription to read this story (there's a short-term free option, too), but it's worth the trouble if you want to get inside the mind of Barkley Marathons founder Lazarus Lake.

"Jared Beasley has been in my timeline for a while," says Keith Dunn. "I finally had the pleasure of meeting and spending time with him. This is an enjoyable read and captures things well."

Still hungry for more 2023 Barkley Marathons details?

Check out these race recaps and highlights:

• iRunFar: Sanchez, Kelly, and Sabbe Finish the 2023 Barkley Marathons
• Trail Runner Magazine: The 2023 Barkley Marathons Has Three Finishers
• Runner's World: 3 Runners Make History at Tennessee’s Grueling Barkley Marathons
• CNN: For the second time in history, a record 3 people have completed one of the world’s toughest race
• Ultrarunning History: 130: The 2023 Barkley Marathons 

 📉After a five-year 100% fail rate, three runners crossed the finish line of the  2023 Barkley Marathons before the 60-hour time limit.

• Aurélien Sanchez (France): 58:23:12
• John Kelly (USA): 58:42:23
• Karel Sabbe (Belgium): 59:53:33