The Expertise of a Lifetime – Half 2 – Witnessing Historical past on the Barkley Marathons

The Experience of a Lifetime – Part 2 – Witnessing History at the Barkley Marathons

As I shared in Part 1, my Barkley Marathons race experience was incredible in every way.  After 27 hours on the Barkley course, I was then able to enjoy a front row seat to the most incredible test of human endurance as the stars aligned.  As an added bonus the weather was absolutely amazing for spectating.

NASCAR pit crews

Not too long after I showered, the top racers were coming in from their third lap.  Their crews executed interloopals which rivaled those of a NASCAR pit crew. Racers maintained complete focus on refueling and swapping out clothes and gear for their next loop.  I tried to take in every morsel of the greatness before me.  I was most excited to see Jasmin Paris come into camp with enough time for a turnaround and to head out for a historic four loop.  She was just the second woman since the race began in 1985 to start a fourth loop. Even though she’d need a miracle to finish under the cutoff, I was thrilled to see her push into new territory.

Damian Hall and John Kelly arrived at camp together and the contrast in their demeanor was comical.  Although John would ultimately prove superior by finishing, he stoically and stiffly moved about in a near daze.  On the other hand, Damian chattered excitedly.  As they both prepared to leave, John clutched both armrests of his chair like an old man whereas I expected Damian to explode out of his chair and possibility ricochet off of a bystander.

The most impressive was Tomo who flew down into camp like a warrior with just six minutes to spare and headed back out after completing a “Fun Run”.  It was comical to watch runner after runner turn the wrong way and duck under the barricade rather than funneling around.

Fireside stories

I enjoyed the ambiance and company at the campfire.  The night before as I huddled around the campfire for warmth, I witnessed the legendary Barkley chicken.  I couldn’t believe that it was 100% true – frozen chicken was placed over the fire where one side blackened while simultaneously remaining frozen.  More impressive, when Naresh flipped the chicken, it remained a block of about eight or so pieces.

Post-race, I had the opportunity to recap with other Barkers, including the legendary Ed Furtaw.  He radiated enthusiasm.  The most memorable part of our conversation was when he eyed up my Morton’s toe (second toe longer than the big toe) which he also has.  Before I knew it, he was jettisoning his shoe and sock to show me the implications of forty years of running with Morton’s toe.  He explained the domino effect of subsequent issues, including a tendency for blisters on my big toe which I have encountered, and how to prevent them.  Ironically, I had been dealing with one of consequences unknowingly throughout Barkley training.  Ed graciously offered advice based on his takeaways from years of doctor and physical therapy sessions.  Fortunately, a simple toe sling and small insert have mitigated many of the negative effects.  Thanks, Ed!

World waiting at Keith’s fingertips

It was amazing chatting with Keith as the world was waiting for his every thumb stroke. In fact, #BM100 was trending third on Twitter!  Keith was a bit aback when I bluntly told him he was misleading the world…not ALL the water was frozen at the water drops.  I made sure to remind him to be a little quicker with punching bibs at BFC too, since he probably cost me about six seconds this year.  Keith liked my jabs, especially after I told him he should be flattered since usually it’s my husband that gets the brunt of my razzing.  Before we parted ways, I made sure to tell him he was wrong after he told me this past fall that no one would ever finish the Barkley!

Best seat in the house

The timing of the race was such that none of the racers finished a lap overnight.  I occasionally heard taps throughout the night.  Had I snuck in the start of a 3rd loop that would have also been my fate.  Shortly after daybreak as I continued to lay in my cozy sleeping bag, I heard some commotion. I had the best seat in the house from my campsite and sat up to view the top runners arriving into camp.  I spent a moment debating if I wanted to leave my cocoon and squeeze a shoe onto my swollen feet.  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to watch greatness. I hobbled over in time to see John Kelly claim clockwise direction as he efficiently completed his final interloopal and Aurelien react to the news. 

In my opinion, clockwise is preferred.  It is easier to navigate with most of the descents having distinct backstops.  Not only was counterclockwise trickier to navigate but it included the worst climb on the course, Meatgrinder.  Perhaps in years when the fourth loop was counterclockwise it may be advantageous to repeat the loop in the same direction, but this year’s course configuration resulted in a clockwise loop four, leaving no edge for a counterclockwise loop. Spoiler alert:  it didn’t seem to matter though as Aurelien executed the loop to claim the overall win.

Laz nearly forgot to ring the bell and had to run to grab it since it had not been used since 2017.  It sure got its use though, with four runners departing on the bell lap for the first time.  Soon after John and Aurelien, Karel came in looking strong. Karel proudly exclaimed, “No cops,” to Laz after completing his final night loop. In the year prior, Karel became so sleep deprived he had wandered into a nearby town where a resident reported to the police that there was an Indian woman wandering around and Karel was subsequently escorted back to camp.  He briefly talked to his wife on the phone and despite not understanding a word of Belgian, her excitement was evident. Damian also snuck in just under the cutoff.  Laz recommended he leave his Sonic wrapper in camp so he wouldn’t have to carry it around the course, but Damian insisted on taking it…was sleep deprivation clouding his judgement or was he seeking a potential sponsor?

Lack of drama

Following a year in which racers faced heartbreak after a mix of calamities ranging from a lost compass, wind blowing book pages off a cliff, and three hours of hill repeats in search of dropped book pages, this year had little drama. The only heartbreak I heard was Pavel’s light malfunctioning at the end of his third loop.  He had not brought a spare since it was a daytime loop and had to bushwhack for several miles in the darkness, which ended his race in disappointment with a “Fun Run”.

I’m glad more drama didn’t pan out.  A well-intentioned hiker brought back a book to camp thinking the race was over, but Laz determined it would not be enough time for someone to run the book back out before Aurelien reached the book on his final loop.  Thankfully, Aurelien only spent five minutes looking for the book and was able to rationalize in his sleep deprived state he was in the correct location and the book had been stolen.  On the other hand, Damian failed to find a single book on loop 5 in his sleep deprived state.  Although he had been to this book location four times previously and the book is perhaps the easiest one to find on the entire course he could not find it and returned to camp several hours later.  Even if he had navigated the entire loop flawlessly his back was already against the wall since he had left camp with just over 12 hours to cover the final loop.  Luckily, the potential for crushing heartbreak never panned out when Karel came in with just minutes to spare, becoming the slowest finisher of the Barkley Marathons, ending his odyssey since 2019 to capture the albino unicorn next to the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Watching animals at the zoo

With the awesome weather, I did not want to miss the action at the fire tower during loop five.  I loaded my pack with several layers and made the 1.5 hour hike to the highest point in the park.  Initially I was surprised to only see 18 people up there, but after I did the math that only the 40 racers and their single crew plus a handful of media are allowed this privilege, the turnout was actually pretty good to get to this remote location.  After some random day hikers inquired who could use the water, they were thrown aback when we explained the Barkley to them.

We chatted amongst ourselves for hours as we anxiously awaited the racers.  I had missed Aurelian since the fire tower is roughly only 1/3 of the way through the loop.  John Fegyveresi (Fegy) was crewing John Kelly and he mentioned as we chatted that he wanted to see John come through by 55 hours.  It must have been nerve racking for Fegy as we approached this mark, but we spotted John at 54:48.  A swarm of media buzzed around John as he approached the water drop and we cheered excitedly.  As John filled his water bottles you could have heard a pin drop.  I usually am not one to take excessive photos and videos in moments like these, but I sure did here.  I didn’t hear it at the time, but when I watched one of my videos someone whispered, “It’s like watching animals at the zoo.”  That was exactly what we did. No one is able to help the racer in any way or provide any communications other than “Good job.” John was robotic even as he triple rinsed his bottle after drinking his recovery drink prior to mixing his regular Tailwind.  At one point he dropped the end of his wrapper and I figured in his daze he hadn’t noticed it, but right before he departed he picked it up.  John then took off and masterfully descended Rat Jaw for the final time.

We then anxiously awaited Karel who had looked much better than John starting lap 5.  So good that Fegy thought Karel may have caught up to John.  As minutes ticked by we were all thrilled to see Karel at 55:38.  Karel only stopped long enough to take two big chugs of water and then very gingerly descended Rat Jaw.  It would be tight for Karel.

The nicest people

By the time I took off my layers, only Steven and I were left at the fire tower.  Steven did not leave me, as if we were still racing.  I offered to take him to the nearby Panther Gap Rockhouse where beautiful cliffs overhang prior to descending the South Old Mac Trail.  Even though we were not moving that fast, we had caught up to none other than Harvey Lewis!  Harvey let us pass but surprisingly engaged us in conversation.  I figured he was enjoying a bit of solitude after having everyone and their cousin try to strike up a conversation with him.  Steven and I had planned to jump on the Judge Branch Trail, but Harvey opted to take the most direct route back to camp but commented we may catch back up.  We did and we continued our conversation as we headed into camp.  Harvey is as nice as everyone says he is.  In fact, I feel like that is a drastic understatement.  At one point he came to a dead stop on the trail to pick up litter he spotted! 

Finish line frenzy

Now we only had to anxiously wait for the final three racers on course.  As darkness fell, we all gathered at the finish line.  The only drawback for the entire race was all three finishers would be arriving in the dark.  On the plus side, someone spotted Aurelien’s headlamp descending the mountain, so we did not miss anything.  As we welcomed in Aurelien, we also had to keep the finish line clear for John Kelly and Karel who would be coming in from the opposite direction.  Aurelien signed relief when Laz informed him that a hiker had taken a book and he would be credited with the win.  Aurelien was extremely gracious, and I preened to hear every word exchanged.  By the time the hero’s welcome subsided, John Kelly came into view.  What I found extremely impressive was the patience of his four young children waiting to hug their father.  They stood for an eternity by their mother waiting.  It seems like John is as good of a father as a runner.

Time ticked by until Karel arrived just minutes before cutoff.  He collapsed the moment he finished, mumbling how hard it was, the voices were everywhere, and he didn’t know what he was doing throughout the loop.  He had done it after beginning his Barkley journey in 2019.  His crew embraced him.

What a year to have a front row seat to the Barkley Marathons!

Banner photo: Laz amongst the license plates.

Related:

• Barkley Race Report

• Preparations for Failure Part 3 – Gear

• Preparations for Failure Part 2 – Mental Training

• Preparations for Failure Part 1 – Physical Training

• 2022 Barkley Fall Classic recap

• Barkley Fall Classic 2022 recap on The Inspirational Runner Podcast

• Barkley Fools – Frozen Head State Park training

• Barkley Blunder

• 2021 Barkley Fall Classic recap