RELATED: Meet Frozen Ed, The Barkley Marathons' First Finisher.

A book called The Finishers from photographers highlights the stories of the 15 individuals who have completed all five loops. The race was the subject of a 2014 Netflix documentary, Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young. If a runner makes it to the start of the fifth lap, it's their choice which direction they go. The first two laps are done in the same direction, while the third and fourth laps are done in the opposite direction. Each of the loops must be done in 12 hours in order to begin another lap in an attempt to complete the full course. Each runner's bib number is the page number they need to rip out of that book and bring with to prove you reached that point. In the days prior to the race, Cantrell places 10 or 11 books out on the course to serve as checkpoints. Tomo Ihara at the 2022 Barkley Marathons. Vermont's Sue Johnston and British runner Jasmin Paris own the best women's finishes, with three laps in 20, respectively. We tracked down stories from seven runners, from virgins to veterans.Īlthough Utah's Jared Campbell has finished it three times (2012, 2014, 2016), the only other runner with more than one finish is Colorado's Brett Maune (2011, 2012). RELATED: The Barkley Marathons got weird this year. 1999 Hardrock winner Blake Wood tried Barkley eight times between 19, but only finished once, in 2001. Frozen Ed Furtaw, author of Tales from Out There, a historical account of Barkley, has attempted the race more than a dozen times. More than half of the contestants each year are previous Barkley veterans. Since the race's inception in 1986, only 15 of the roughly 1,000 runners who have tried Barkley have completed it. (Photo: Preston Keres/The Washington Post via Getty Images) Competitors rip pages from books titled, “The Reasons I Won’t Be Coming Back,” “When Bad Things Happen to Good People,” and “Bright Days, Stupid Nights” to prove they had made it through difficult areas of the Barkley Marathon, on Ma.

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