My 19 Hour Tennessee Marathon I left the Barkley as Blake Wood was starting loop 5 in a hard rain with 6 minutes to spare on the 48 hour cutoff. He had not slept at all on the first 4 laps, but after a 30 minute nap and some food, he still looked good. I really thought he could make it. I'm sorry I couldn't stay to the end, but I had a 750 mile drive ahead and I had to work the next day. I really thought he could finish, to be the second person whose race didn't end with a bad rendition of "taps" on the bugle. Blake faced horrible conditions, two days of cold rain following the first loop, and in spite of this became the only person to make the choice of direction on lap 5 since the new rule was instituted in 1996. He chose clockwise, the same direction as loops 1 and 2. Out of 35 runners, only 9 finished 2 loops (40 miles) and 7 (20%) finished the 60 mile fun run. Blake Wood was first in 31 hours (an hour slower than his Hardrock CR), in spite of running alone. He smartly held back on the first loop in spite of the good conditions, warm and sunny. The others ran in pairs. Mike Tilden and Sue Johnston were next. Mike bravely went out on a 4'th loop alone into the second night with an hour to spare on the 36 hour cutoff, and a violent thunderstorm soon followed. We later found him in his tent, too incoherent to give us the full story. Mike Dobies and Craig Wilson had enough time to go out again, but Mike insisted that Gary play taps right then and there. Andrew Thompson and Eliza McLean were late enough to be spared that awful decision. Randy Isler got lost coming down "Big Hell" on lap 3, ended up on a road and got a ride back to the park. Steve Simmons finished lap 2 with feet that looked like mashed potatoes, and let the cutoff time expire. This is one guy who would sooner die than quit. This was my 6'th attempt at the fun run, or even to make 2 loops under the 26:40 cutoff. You already know the sorry result. I completed lap 1 in record time (9:49) in good weather, and I thought a windbreaker and tights would be enough on lap 2. No rain was forecast, but I should have known better. It started raining at midnight. Stu Gleman, who said he was going to abandon me at Coffin Springs (28 miles) because I was too slow, changed his mind and said he was going to quit, along with John DeWalt, because they were getting hypothermia. Jurgen Tiechert, a 2:52 marathoner and experienced mountain runner from Germany, was still in good shape and wanted to go on, and so did I, but we were all very cold. I am not sure why I turned down the 7 mile road back to camp in the rain and wind and fog at 3 AM, running hard just to stay warm, but I did. I was weak. I still think I could have finished the loop. I'm sorry I cost Jurgen the race. His English was not too good, and he was following me because he didn't know the course. I tried to explain: "we're quitting, going back to camp, DNF, done, taps", all the way back. My only consolation is I made it as far as most of the big dogs. David Horton, DeWayne Satterfield, Eric Clifton, Robert Youngren, Hans Put (2'nd at Hardrock) apparently turned it into a contest of who could go the furthest without puking. None made it through loop 2. Gary Cantrell called it a bad case of testosterone poisoning. Fred Brooks (Superior Trail winner) said he would be disappointed if it took him longer than 50 hours to run 5 loops, and took it kind of personally when I casually mentioned that he wouldn't finish. I don't know how he felt about quitting on lap 2, because he didn't stick around for an interview. When Mark Williams finished the 100 in 1995 (still the only person to have done so), he had perfect weather the whole way, and did all 5 loops in the "easy" direction, with most of the runnable sections going downhill, and without the navigational difficulties of picking the right diverging ridges in the sawbrier mazes descending Big and Little Hell in the fog at night. The 20 vertical miles, in some places so steep that you climb with your hands and descend on your butt, became muddy and slick as ice in the constant rain. I don't mean to put down Mark's accomplishment, but only to warn you. When I ran it that year, it took me 29:45 to run 40 miles, only 4 minutes faster than I ran Leadville a few months later in freezing rain. What Mark did was like running 250 miles on the Leadville course at a sub 24 hour/100 mile pace with no crew or pacer, and aid only every 50 miles. There are no finishers medals or buckles at the Barkley, no award for the winner. In spite of this, and efforts to keep the race a secret, it fills within hours of accepting entries on the one day of the year when it is possible to register. Of the 35 selected runners, everybody made it to the start and nobody made it to the finish. The Barkley has humbled some of the best trail runners on earth, and it is amazing what people will endure for this privelige. Barkley 100 Mile Run and 60 Mile Fun Run Apr. 1, 2000 Frozen Head TN Results from http://www.angelfire.com/tn/races/update.html 20M in out 40M in out 60M in out 80M in out 100 miles Blake Wood 8:37 8:58 19:13 20:15 31:00 31:00 46:36 47:53 DNF - Quit because the river was flooded and uncrossable. Time was also nearing the limit. Michael Tilden 7:36 7:57 20:07 21:19 32:57 35:09 DNF Sue Johnston 8:03 8:31 20:07 21:28 32:57 DNF Craig Wilson 8:03 8:35 20:07 21:30 34:48 DNF Mike Dobies 8:07 8:25 20:07 21:22 34:48 DNF Andrew Thompson 9:07 9:47 22:41 23:51 37:19 DNF - Timed out Eliza McLean 9:07 9:47 22:41 23:51 37:19 DNF - Timed out Randy Isler 8:44 9:14 23:14 23:50 DNF - failed to use map & compass Steve Simmons 8:37 9:36 25:48 DNF - Wrinkled feet David Horton 7:36 7:54 DNF - Puking Hans Put 7:36 7:56 DNF - Blisters Eric Clifton 7:36 7:58 DNF - Reached maximum weariness quotient Fred Brooks 7:37 7:59 DNF - Started too hard Dewayne Satterfield 7:39 7:58 DNF - Watching David Horton puke Geoff Scott 8:44 9:14 DNF - Lost on the Rat Jaw Robert Youngren 9:07 DNF - Head too small Kevin Budd 9:18 9:24 DNF - Leg cramps Leslie Hunt 9:24 10:19 DNF - Cold, fog, wind David White 9:24 10:19 DNF - Cold, fog, wind Kerry Trammell 9:24 10:19 DNF - Cold, fog, wind Jurgen Teichert 9:40 10:54 DNF - Followed Mahoney (crazy people here) Sean Hudson 9:41 DNF - Ankle stopped John Dewalt 9:47 10:54 DNF - Freezing cold 30 degree rain & 40mph winds Matt Mahoney 9:49 11:22 DNF - Stu Gleman told him to Wilson Brasington 10:58 12:18 DNF - Fatigue, cold, fog, rain Dick West 10:58 12:18 DNF - Cold & Wet Stu Gleman 11:02 11:22 DNF - Freezing cold 30 degree rain & 40mph winds Susan Gardner 11:26 DNF - Shredded Leonard Martin 11:31 12:06 DNF - Timed out, Bad night David Hughes 12:24 DNF - Chickened out Bill Johnson 12:36 DNF - Memory of what is out there Mark Dorion DNF - 9 Pages, Didn't want to die Wayne Brasington DNF - Just Tired Doug Barrows DNF - Was not ready David Zuniga DNF - The gods were angry -- Matt Mahoney, matmahoney@yahoo.com, www.he.net/~mmahoney/ub/