Two years ago, I fell down an internet rabbit hole and became mildly obsessed with something called the Barkley Marathons, especially because that was the year the first woman ever finished it.
If you’ve never heard of it, that’s kind of the point. 😆
It’s a “race” in Tennessee that starts when someone lights a cigarette.
That’s all you need to know for now.
Everything else? Well, you’ll find that in these seven lessons inspired by the Barkley Marathons — which, if we’re lucky, someone may be finishing as you read this.
(As of the time I wrote this, there were still four people in the race…one running with plastic bags on his feet. You’re getting more intrigued by the minute, eh? 😏!)
1️⃣ Commitment Is the Real Entry Fee
To apply for Barkley, you send $1.60 and a license plate from your home state.
No slick registration portal.
No tiered pricing.
No fundraising.
No VIP package.
If you’re serious enough to mail something weird to Tennessee (and you’re whacked enough to even consider running this thing), then you’re worthy.
Sometimes the cost of entry isn’t money. It’s intention.
💡 Lesson: The barrier to many meaningful things isnt’ dollar signs. It’s willingness.
2️⃣ You Have to Carry Your Own Support
There are no aid stations in the Barkley Marathons, which is pretty incredible considering the terrible conditions, thick brambles, and complete insanity this thing does to your body.
There are no volunteers handing out gels, hydration tables every two miles, and there are definitely no cheering crowds along the course.
This is not the Olympics.
If you’re lucky, someone has a pair of dry socks for you waiting in the old school van you camped in the night before.
This is an every-man-for-himself situation…one where you carry what you need.
If you even know what you need. 🤭
💡 Lesson: No one is coming to rescue you (and that’s not bad news).
3️⃣ You Don’t Get Credit Unless You Prove the Work
There are no follow-drones, fancy clocks, and certainly no time comparisons along this course.
In fact, one of the several ways runners prove they ran the correct course is to find hidden books in the woods and tear out the page that matches their bib number.
I’m pretty sure the end times are determined by a classic analog stopwatch.
It’s not enough to “sort of” follow the “trail.”
You either found the book, or you didn’t.
What kind of drugs do you think the race creators were on when they came up with this stuff? 😂
💡 Lesson: If you want credit, bring proof.
4️⃣ The Path Won’t Be Clearly Marked
Five loops.
Two clockwise.
Two counterclockwise.
One TBD.
No defined trail.
Definitely no pre-issued trail map.
If more than one runner makes it to the fifth round, they get to determine the direction in which the final lap is run, and that all comes after taking instructions from the guy with the cigarette and navigating the rest with a compass and your own map. 🫨
💡 Lesson: No one hands you the map to life, so get ready to find your way as you go.
5️⃣ Sometimes the Difference Is 99 Seconds
💪 In 2023, Jasmin Paris completed the “Fun Run” (three loops…yeah…“fun” 😜), and then in 2024, she became the first woman ever to finish all five loops.
She crossed the finish line with just 99 seconds to spare in the 60-hour cutoff.
Oh yes, 60 hours. In brutal terrain. Ninety-nine seconds left. Talk about grit.
💡 Lesson: The margin between “didn’t make it” and “historic” can be thinner than you think. Stay in it.
6️⃣ Most Years, No One Finishes
And people keep showing up anyway.
Last year, in the first race after Jasmin’s historic finish, no one crossed the finish line, and that’s not uncommon.
Elite ultrarunners with months (years) of training, and this thing still gets the best of them.
Zero finishers.
And yet… they keep coming back. 🤷
💡 Lesson: Not finishing doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth starting.
7️⃣ The Rules Are Weird — But the Point Is Clear
The entry fee is strange, and the course is unclear. The start signal is a cigarette, the directions of the course change, and there are books hidden among the brambles.
On paper? It makes very little sense.
Ok, NO sense.
And yet the point is unmistakable:
Test your limits. Find your edge. See who you become in the woods.
💡 Lesson: It doesn’t have to make sense to be meaningful.
The Barkley Marathons are absurd, and that’s why I am fascinated by them.
📺 Fun fact: if you need something ridiculous to watch for 90 minutes this winter, find the documentary filmed a few years ago. You will be similarly obsessed!
The Barkley Marathons are inefficient.
Punishing. Unpredictable.
Intentionally uncomfortable.
Sounds like Sundays sometimes, eh? 😉
Your Friend and Coach,
Angie
