There is water available on the course, but no aid stations per se runners only receive aid between loops, in camp.

Runners must also collect pages corresponding to their bib number from books hidden on the course (they receive a new bib for each loop) missing pages mean automatic disqualification. The course changes every year, and GPS watches are not allowed each runner is issued a cheap watch with very little functionality beyond telling them how much time has passed. Runners have 60 hours to finish the race.

The race has approximately 40 starters every year.

(No one has achieved this since Kelly did it in 2017.) John Kelly at the 2017 Barkley Marathons. Some might say it hardly matters, since both are a DNF if they don’t finish all five loops with the 60-hour cutoff. If runners complete a third loop in under 36 hours, they must choose between settling for a “fun run” or going out for a fourth loop (which means they don’t get to claim a fun run). If more than one runner starts loop five, they must travel in opposite directions. The fourth loop will be clockwise, which is easier, according to Dunn. Loop three also is counterclockwise, the same as loop two. “There’s been a much quicker turnaround than I have observed in the past, and the crews are focused on time,” he says. The completion of two loops means that runners are 40 per cent done, but the best is yet to come as the runners begin to battle with sleep deprivation and the nasty terrain of Frozen Head State Park.ĭunn, who is one of the very few reliable sources for information on the race, says runners are taking the “interloopal” period more seriously.

Download 2023 barkley marathon