2012 Barkley Marathons Report by Matt Mahoney The Barkley Marathons have been held annually since 1986 at Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee, except in 2002 when all state parks were closed due to government incompetence. The race is 100 miles with a 60 hour cutoff. There is 59,230 feet of climb and 59,230 feet of descent, mostly on trails or off trails through the woods. The course is not marked. There is no aid except for 2 unmanned water drops per 20 mile loop plus whatever you have at your campsite between loops. No pacers are allowed. No crews or support are allowed except at camp. No GPS, altimeters, or cell phones are allowed. You must navigate with a map and compass and follow the written directions. The course is kept secret until the day before the race, and may change each year. There are 11 books on the course, which are marked on a master map. To prove you ran a lap, you must bring back a page from each book matching your race number. After you finish a lap, you are given a new race number to bring back the next set of pages. Loop cutoff times are as follows: 1 loop (20 miles): 13:20 2 loops: 26:40 3 loops: 40:00 for a "fun run", or 36:00 to be allowed to continue. 4 loops: 48:00 5 loops (finish): 60:00. If you do not start the next lap within the cutoff time, or do not have all of your pages, then you are a DNF and race director Gary Cantrell will play "taps" on the bugle to announce your failure. This includes finishing the "fun run". The real race is 100 miles. If you finish, then your prize is that you don't have to go "out there" again. There are no other awards. The Barkley Marathons are not listed on any calendar. There is no official website. There is no published entry procedure. To enter, you have to ask someone who has run it before. In spite of this, about 200 people figure out the correct procedure, and about 35 are accepted based on their essay "Why I should be allowed to run the Barkley". The application fee is $1.60. The starting date is revealed after your entry is accepted and the entry fee (if you receive an application) is as follows: For virgins (first time runners), a license place from your home state. For veterans (various DNF), a flannel shirt. For alumni (previous finishers), a pack of Camel filters. The starting time is between midnight and noon on the Saturday of "Fool's Weekend". The starting time is announced one hour in advance by the sound of a conch shell in camp. Usually it is between 7 and 10 AM, but it could be any time. In 2011, the race started at 1:07 AM. The race officially starts when the race director lights his cigarette. Since 1986, the historical failure rate has been about 99%. On average, only about 15% even finish the fun run. During this period, there have been many course changes designed to make the course harder, adding more elevation change, rougher terrain, or rules to make it harder like this year's ban on altimeters, or previous bans on training on the parts of the course that are not regular park trails. About 35 runners are accepted each year. The complete list of finishers is as follows: In 1995, Mark Williams, UK, was the first to ever finish, in 59:28. This is in spite of a course change in which 2 miles of easy trail from Indian Knob to Chimney Top was replaced with the Zip Line, a 1500 ft. off trail descent over rocks, leaves, and deadfall, and a 1500 ft. climb up sawbrier-covered Big Hell. He ran all 5 loops in the clockwise direction. The following year, the rule was changed to run loops 3 and 4 counterclockwise. He made 3 loops the next year. In 2001, David Horton and Blake Wood finished together in 58:21, each after several failed attempts. Both are past Hardrock 100 winners. The following year, the rule was changed so that the first runner to start loop 5 had their choice of direction, and then runners must alternate. In 2003, Cave Dog set a course record of 56:57. Previously he had set a course record for climbing the 54 Colorado fourteeners in 10 days, 20:26, breaking the old record by over 3 days. In 2004, Mike Tilden won in 57:25, beating Jim Nelson by 3 minutes running in opposite directions on loop 5. They had been together for 4 loops. Both were Nolan's 14 finishers. In 2008, Brian Robinson set a course record of 55:42, after failing on loop 5 the previous year. He set a speed record for running all 3 major U.S. trails (Appalachian, Continental Divide, and Pacific Crest), 7400 miles in 300 days. In 2009, Andrew Thompson ran 57:37. In 2005 he lost his mind on loop 5, then set a speed record (47 days) on the Appalachian trail. In 2010, Johnathan Basham ran 59:18, in spite of a new section that replaced 2 miles of easy trail with a 1920 ft. descent from the highest point on the course, down the sawbrier infested Rat Jaw power line cut, through a drainage tunnel under the Brushy Mt. prison, and a 1700 ft climb up the Bad Thing, an average grade of 40%. He had previously set speed records on the Colorado Trail and Long Trail. In 2011, Brett Maune ran 57:13. He had previously set an unsupported course record on the John Muir Trail, breaking the supported record in the process. 2012 results are below. For the first time, there were 3 finishers. Brett Maune set a new course record, and is now the only person to have finished twice. He ran the first 4 laps with 2010 Hardrock winner Jared Campbell, then went out first on loop 5, choosing to go clockwise while Jared took an almost 3 hour break. John Fegyveresi, who is stationed at the South Pole, finished third, mostly running alone. Barkley Marathons. Start: Mar. 31, 2012, 9:12 AM. 20 mi 40 mi 60 mi 80 mi 100 miles Brett Maune, CA 7:41 17:20 29:01 40:46 52:03:08! (CW) Jared Campbell, UT 7:41 17:20 29:01 40:47 56:00:15 (CCW) John Fegyveresi, Antarctica 9:07 20:01 32:21 46:26 59:41:21 (CW) Nick Hollon, AZ 8:59 19:38 32:14 DNF at Garden Spot, loop 4 Alan Abs, CA 7:44 19:38 32:14 DNF at Pighead Creek, loop 4 Beverly Anderson-Abs, CA 7:44 19:52 34:29 Refused to continue Travis Wildeboer, IA 9:20 21:12 35:21 Refused to continue Robert Youngren, AL 9:47 23:13 35:36 Refused to continue Tim Englund, WA 9:07 21:24 DNF at firetower, loop 3 Wouter Hamelinck, Belgium 8:23 24:00 Refused to continue Iso Yucra, Bolivia 10:31 25:43 DNF at firetower, loop 3 Zane Smith, TN 10:31 25:54 DNF at firetower, loop 3 Aaron Sorenson, CA 10:31 26:14 Refused to continue Carl Laniak, GA 9:29 DNF at Indian Knob, loop 2 Byron Backer, SC 9:29 DNF at Testicle Spectacle, loop 2 Paul Melzer, CA 9:46 DNF at Coffin Springs, loop 2 DeWayne Satterfield, AL 10:47 DNF at Pillars of Death, loop 2 William Arnold, TN 11:28 DNF at Testicle Spectacle, loop 2 Julian Jamison, CA 11:49 DNF on Stallion Mt, loop 2 Dusty Hardman 12:12 DNF at Phillips Creek, loop 2 Hiram Rogers, TN 12:12 DNF at Phillips Creek, loop 2 Michael Panhuysen, ND 12:12 DNF at firetower, loop 2 Ed Furtaw, CO 12:15 (29:11) Over cutoff, loop 2 Pat Costigan, MI 12:23 Turned around on Bird Mt, loop 2 Tim Dines, KY 12:27 Refused to continue Marco Cych, Germany 12:27 DNF at Phillips Creek, loop 2 Jason Carpenter, CA 12:35 Refused to continue Joel Gat, TX 12:35 Refused to continue Thierry Corbariue, France 12:35 Refused to continue Elise Harrington, CO 12:40 Turned around on Bird Mt, loop 2 Thomas Armbruster, GA 12:40 Refused to continue James Adams, UK 12:40 Refused to continue Leonard Martin, TN 12:42 Turned around on Bird Mt, loop 2 Naresh Kumar, TN (18:46) Over cutoff, loop 1 Psyche Wimberly (18:46) Over cutoff, loop 1 Matt Mahoney, FL (18:46) Over cutoff, loop 1 Stu Gleman, NC DNF at Raw Dog Falls, loop 1 Peter Fish, OR DNF at Raw Dog Falls, loop 1 Tim Hardy, NY DNF at Pighead Creek, loop 1 Terry Cash, TN DNF at Testicle Spectacle, loop 1 The official results are posted at http://mattmahoney.net/barkley/ I added some comments and unofficial times in parenthesis here. This was my 14'th Barkley. I had little illusion of going more than one lap. My best result here is 2 loops in about 28 hours and missing the cutoff, back when I was younger and the course was easier. I have 4 previous Hardrock 100 finishes, the last in 2004. I am 56 and slower now. Last week I ran a half marathon in 1:36. My complete lack of fitness was confirmed about 10 minutes into the race, still on the easy climb up Bird Mt. when I looked back and the only runner behind me was 75 year old Peter Fish, one switchback below me. There were 11 books including a new one on Checkmate Hill. This was revealed the previous day to be England Mt. It replaced an easy trail down the north side of Bird Mt. with a 1300 ft. bushwack descent in 1/2 mile on a 50% grade. It was here I ran into Naresh Kumar, who had been ahead but gotten lost, and together we found the book at the top. He had run the Vol State 314 mile race across Tennessee last year. He was faster, but ended up staying with me because it was his first time here and I knew the rest of the course. Likewise for Psyche Wimberly, who was lost on Stallion Mt. We finished together more than 5 hours over the cutoff. It got dark before the prison tunnel. At Indian Knob, it was about 11 PM and already past the cutoff, but we decided to go down Zip Line and get the rest of our pages anyway, rather than take an easier trail back to camp. After we finished at 3:58 AM for three renditions of "taps", I was more hungry than tired. I carried M&Ms, beef jerky, and cookies in my pack, but not enough. I sat at the campfile and ate Barkley chicken and beans, then took a shower, and finally went back to my tent at 6 AM. I stayed another day before my 750 mile drive back to Florida. I heard the bugle play many times and traded war stories. During the second night, I heard the cow bell ring 3 times, the "bell lap" for the 3 runners going out on lap 5. Overall we had nice weather, 50's to 70's and no rain. Some people said it was warm, but I stayed hydrated by drinking about 15 bottles of untreated water from streams in addition to the two aid stations. We lost about 20 minutes when we came up to Indian Knob too far south, but otherwise had no major navigational blunders. Nobody seemed to have any major physical problems like blisters, nausea, cramps, or injuries. I'm not sure why we were so slow, except maybe I took too many pictures. A few are here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3696484495245.2164837.1369331709&type=3