The current record time is 52:03:08 which was set by Brett Maune in 2012. More details on the event can be found in our race explainer.

The test is made even more difficult by the fact that each competitor has to find books hidden around the course and tear out the page corresponding to their race number. It achieved legendary status following the 2014 Netflix documentary Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young. That is five 20-mile loops with more than 54,000 feet of ascent, each loop starting and finishing at the yellow gate where competitors and support teams make camp. Based on a historic prison escape, this cult like race tempts people from around the world to test their limits of physical and mental endurance in this documentary that contemplates the value of pain. The Barkley Marathons is regarded as one of the toughest races in the world and since 1986 only 15 different runners have managed to complete the full course. In its first 25 years only 10 people have finished The Barkley Marathons. #BM100 - Keith MaWhat is the Barkley Marathons? Japan’s Tom Ihara was another tap-out on loop four.John Kelly decided not to continue to loop 4 and tapped himself out.

Sanchez, who is best known as the holder of the record for the self-supported fastest-known time for the south-to-north route on the John Muir Trail, had made a big push over the course of loop four, which he started more than 50 minutes behind the leading trio of Kelly, Hall and Albert Herrero Casas.īelgian Sabbe then improved on his effort last year as he made it three runners on loop five, coming home in 46:36:57 and turning things around in around 23 minutes.Ĭasas would tap out part way through loop four and with Kelly out in front, recent Spine Race winner Hall had a battle to make it back to camp inside the 48-hour window.īut he emerged at the gate with half an hour remaining and was back into the thick of it with five minutes to spare. Kelly was under pressure from France’s Sanchez, who finished loop four only seven minutes later and was back out less than five minutes adrift. The American completed loop four in 45:50:23 and was back into action after less than 13 minutes, with those behind him running in alternating directions for the final loop. It takes participants through a 100-mile unmarked, off-trail course through Frozen Head State Park instead. 25 entrants disqualified from 2023 Comrades Marathon for ‘cheating’ A single marathon usually goes for around 26 miles, but not the Barkley Marathons.

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