Rain fell for much of the race, at times a drizzle and at times a downpour. Photo contributed by Wyatt Massey / The writer (left) with Gary Cantrell, better known as 'Lazarus Lake,' the director of the Barkley Marathons. For a week after, my legs looked as though I was in a deathmatch with a herd of feral cats. The thorns ripped through my clothing and skin. Cutting a trail through that thicket took us an hour. My group estimated the section we covered was about half a mile. On race morning, September 18, I was among the first group to get to 'Rat Jaw,' an off-trail bushwhacking section that involves crawling through a long stretch of briers. Those caveats aside, the terrain of Frozen Head and the machinations of the Barkley's race director, Gary Cantrell (better known as 'Lazarus Lake'), did not disappoint. For example, using a GPS tracker or posting a photo of the course map will result in a lifetime ban.

The unwritten rules of the Fall Classic prevent me from disclosing much about the course. The course offers a taste of the full Barkley, including some of the most famous sections such as the brier fields, a run down 'Testicle Spectacle' and climbing over the prison wall. This 'Baby Barkley' is one loop in the park, covering roughly 31 miles and more than 10,000 feet of vertical gain. After decades, only a handful have finished the approximately 100-mile race in Frozen Head State Park in Wartburg, Tennessee.įor the more average of athletes, the annual Barkley Fall Classic offers a glimpse of the full race.

Arguably the hardest race in the world, only a select number of people get to run the full Barkley every year. In the ultra running community, and among those with a love of Netflix documentaries, the Barkley Marathons and its bearded, cigarette smoking race director is a kind of icon. In a Facebook group, folks posted recovery photos from previous years - red lines of thorn-torn skin or bulging places where wasps attacked. There are memes about how hard the course will be.

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