2004 Barkley, unofficial results reported by Matt Mahoney 20 in out 40 in out Fun run out 80 in out Finish Mike Tilden, UT 0838 0839 1917 1924 31:37:38 3206 4529 4547 57:25:28 Jim Nelson, UT 0839 0840 1917 1924 31:37:57 3208 4525 4542 57:28:25 David Horton, VA 0831 0842 1918 1924 30:57:09 3109 (quit 20 min. later) Andrew Thompson, NH 0831 0842 1918 2314 36:19:21 Jason Poole, CO 0831 0842 1918 2314 36:19:22 Todd Holmes, CO 0831 0846 1918 2314 36:19:23 Craig Wilson, ME 0853 0911 2225 2257 36:19:24 Mark Dorion, TX 0911 0956 2430 2626 (quit at Little Hell, 35:18) Hal Koerner, CO 0830 0847 1918 Michael Bur, MD 0921 0956 2459 Sue Thompson, MI 1052 1136 2633 Leonard Martin, TN 1110 1131 2633 Matt Mahoney, FL 1204 1241 2837 (missed 26:40 cutoff) Joe Kowalski, OH 1141 1241 2851 (missed 26:40 cutoff) Hiram Rogers, TN 1028 1050 (quit, 12:56) Robert Youngren, AL 0845 Robert Hills, MO 1053 John Dewalt, PA 1107 David Hughes, IN 1152 Spyder Tynes, GA 1241 Herb Hedgecock, KY 1241 Dick West, MI 1244 John Bowman, TN 1252 Rich Limacher, IL 1256 Rollin Perry, IA 1842 (missed 13:20 cutoff) Stu Gleman, FL (quit at Rat Jaw, 13:29) Hugo Walker (quit, 10:10) Janice Cahalan, NY (quit, 10:10) Fred Pilon, MA (quit at Little Hell, 7:45) Stephen Miller (quit at Little Hell, 9:47) Luke Bartlett (quit at Coffin Springs, 6:16) Weather: sunny and dry, highs in 50's, lows in 30's, full moon. Course: loops 1 and 2 are clockwise, 3 and 4 are counterclockwise. The first runner on loop 5 (Jim Nelson) chose to run clockwise. Subsequent runners (Mike Tilden) must alternate directions. This rule was added in 2003 but applied for the first time this year. RACE REPORT by Matt Mahoney This was my 9'th DNF in 9 tries. I made 2 20-mile loops in 28:37, about 2 hours over the cutoff. I have missed the 26:40 cutoff 5 times now. In the other 4 tries I wimped out and quit during the second loop. We had ideal weather, sunny and dry, 30's to 50's with a full moon. I wore shorts for the whole race except about 3 hours in the coldest part of the night. There are about 100 cuts on my legs from sawbriers. I used a 2 bottle hip pack getting most of my water from streams (untreated) and eating mostly chocolate covered peanuts and a little bit of meat. For the night loop I started with 2 bottles of Mt. Dew which had enough caffeine that I never got sleepy during the race and enough sugar that I didn't need any solid food until sunrise. I really didn't have any stomach problems. I wore Walsh PB trainers, the same kind of British fell running shoes that Mark Williams wore when he was the first 100 mile finisher in 1995. (Unfortunately I don't have his legs). The shoes work great in mud. They do not slip at all. I could walk down 45 degree slopes like Leonard's butt slide. I did get some blisters on the second loop, probably because I ran without socks and because my longest run in these shoes prior to Barkley was 2 miles. My feet are also swollen now. I took ibuprofin during the second loop to dull the blister pain but I never really hurt anywhere else, although my legs were stiff afterwards. I guess I wasn't pushing hard enough to make the cutoff, but I thought I was going as hard as I reasonably could. I did the night loop with Joe Kowalski and I was struggling to keep up with him. It is hard to describe just how difficult this course is even under ideal conditions. It took me 6 hours longer to run 40 miles than it took to run the Ancient Oaks 100 last December. We were extremely fortunate with the weather. Normally we have rain, sleet, and snow. The last time it didn't rain during the race was in 1995.