Barkley Marathons 2021

Jeff Garmire

The conch blew at 2:04 am. We would be starting at 3:04 am. The signal that the race would start in an hour was actually a welcome sign to crawl out of the car after being kept up all night by a thundering storm. It was an invitation to get out and begin the day despite being in the middle of the night. The next hour flew by. 

The Barkley Marathons is one of the most unique races on the planet. In 35 years there have been only 15 finishers. The race is designed to be right on the edge of what is humanly possible, and this means that each time a runner finishes the course, it gets harder. To join the elite list of Barkley finishers, one must complete five 26 mile loops within 60 hours. Each loop is done only with a map and compass and is almost entirely off-trail. There are no digital watches, cell phones, or cameras allowed on the course. The Barkley Marathons are a route only attempted one weekend a year by 40 lucky runners. Most years they all leave in disappointment. A deeper description of the Barkley Marathons can be found here.

barkley sign in the campground

In the allotted hour of preparation, I checked every item in my running vest to assure nothing was missing. The pressure was mounting and I simply wanted to start this race. With minutes to go, I walked up the hill to the yellow gate, the official start of the Barkley Marathons. 

Off to the side was a tent with a lantern illuminating the inside. Our race-issued watches were waiting for us. I sauntered over and was immediately disappointed at the $8.88 pocket watch that Laz had picked out for the participants to keep time this year. I stuffed the watch in a shoulder pocket of my vest and didn’t expect to be using it much. 

The countdown was on. Runners were lining up and I walked right into the middle of them. Some wore rain gear and some wore t-shirts. The weather was warm but a light rain fell and I waffled in considering what I should start the race in. As Laz began his speech I unsnapped my vest and quickly stowed my rain gear. My adrenaline was pumping and I knew I would overheat in excess layers.

our race issued pocket watch

The cigarette was lit, a puff of smoke drained from Laz’s mouth and we were off. 

The first two miles of the course are on a trail. I had scouted this trail leading up to the race but still cautiously fell into the pack, letting an experienced runner lead the way. Our line of headlamps tramped into the darkness up the side of the mountain. Then the leaders abruptly turned off the trail and sprinted into the forest. We left the safety of the trail and the magic of the Barkley was realized. It was chaotic. Groups of runners blindly followed each other as we looked for the first book. We knew it was down the hill, but we didn’t know how far. Had we followed the wrong person? I stuck with a small group as we walked up and down a small bench on the hill. Then yelps of success came from runners a hundred yards away. We hustled over and tore out our first page of the race. One down, 12 to go. 

The Barkley Marathons is not marked or governed by time chips, checkpoints, or GPS. The route is unmarked with no aid stations. Therefore, the way that runners prove they followed the intended route is to tear pages out of books strategically placed along the way. I was number 35. So, at every book we came to I tore out page 35 and kept all my pages to show when I completed the loop, back at the yellow gate.

the yellow gate (start line)

It was a rapid descent from Book 1. All the elevation gained on the trail was quickly gone. But we didn’t care. The atmosphere was one of elation. The forest was our jungle gym. The ground was slick, muddy, and a perfect butt slide on our way to the second book. It was a straightforward one and the large pack of us marched on with two pages already collected. 

Then the fog rolled in. We were all already in the drainage that led us down to the next book but the view of the other Barkley runners had drastically diminished. I was a Barkley virgin who had lost the veterans. It was exactly what you were not supposed to do on your first trip to the Barkley. But, the instructions on Book 3 matched perfectly, and I tore my page without a hiccup. I had confidence. I was feeling good about getting to the next book and my body felt great. Now it was straight up. 

It was an easy path to follow, the instruction simply read “Climb the hill and turn right on the trail.” The hill was about a 40% grade, but what it offered in a physical challenge it lacked in a navigational one. It was tough to tell where the other participants were. Everyone was either just ahead or just behind me, and the higher I climbed the harder it was to distinguish lights. I left the trail, ascended over Bald Knob, and immediately dropped back down to the trail. This was the flat portion of the course and I had to run.

mud the afternoon before the race

The trail led me close to Book 4, and after a meticulous following of instructions, I had almost a third of the books. I was elated. But as I jogged away from the fourth book and past the first water drop I quickly understood why most people come out to scout this section. There were unmarked jeep and coal roads everywhere on Stallion Mountain. Twice I ventured out, attempting to stick to the instructions and the map and compass, but both times I retreated to the water drop. I simply could not figure out what we were meant to do. Luckily, for my third try at the navigation, two hikers walked down the road. We were now in it together. Even better, one of them had trained in the section. 

We followed her at a jog down the road, cross country, off a small cliff, and down another road to the New River. She nailed the navigation through books 5 and 6 and we still had a good shot at completing the loop before the cutoff (13 hours and 20 minutes). Then came book 7.

It seemed simple. We dropped to the New River again, followed a faint road through some ruins, and looked for the remnants of a rock wall. But, everything looked like an old rock wall. Everything was covered in moss and there seemed to be ruins everywhere. We could convince ourselves we were following the instructions no matter which way we turned. But we simply couldn’t find the book. Up and down we searched. Hours ticked by. We soon knew there was no way to complete the loop in time. But we continued looking. Giving up was not an option. Too much time and effort went into getting here. Eventually, a runner named Peter and I broke off to retreat to our last location that truly matched the map and the instructions. From there we meticulously followed the correct compass bearing and the instructions. Then it became obvious, we had followed the wrong drainage. With this navigational error fixed, we walked nearly directly to the book. Three hours had been spent on book 7. Despite the impossibility of completing the loop in time, we continued. 

The next book was on top of the ridge and we quickly ascended, finding it in a matter of minutes. We dropped down to a road and quickly turned to follow a powerline cut called Rat Jaw. The climb was steep and full of briars up to the top of Frozen Head for Book 9. The second water drop was right next to the book, and after refilling we descended down to the historic prison. Brushy Mountain Penitentiary and the escape of James Earl Ray are the reason for the Barkley Marathons, and the book at the prison marks the spot where he climbed the wall.

looking back down rat jaw

We pushed up Indian Knob and easily found our book waiting in the “Eye of the Needle” and dropped quickly to the Beach Tree book. Everything seemed easy. The hills were steep and taxing, but navigation had gone perfectly on the back portion of the loop. It only accentuated the huge mistakes on two books earlier. The final climb is called Big Hell, and it simply just keeps going, up the spine of Chimney Top, through the briars, and right to the capstones at the top. The book was exactly where the instructions stated. All the pages were acquired and only a short run down a well-maintained park trail awaited. It was not the body-breaking feeling I thought I would have as I descended back to the campground. I had hoped this feeling of the end being imminent wouldn’t be a part of my experience until at least loop 3. But, the Barkley always wins. 

I made it back to the yellow gate in the rain and concluded the loop. I had all 13 pages but I was much too slow to be continuing on a second loop. There was lots of learning, lots of reflecting, and lots of wishing it had gone smoother. But, I had vowed not to quit and I had done exactly that. Hopefully, I get another chance to test myself against the course and find Book 7 in less than three hours.

standing at the yellow gate after finishing a loop