
The Masochist’s Marathon - sergeant3
http://www.esquire.com/lifestyle/health/a55986/barkley-marathons/
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js2
It's worth mentioning a couple of Laz's other races:

\- The Last Annual Vol State 500K. A race across the full width of Tennessee
in the middle of the summer. You can compete either "crewed" or "screwed".
This year's edition just ended a few days ago.
[http://volstate314.com/](http://volstate314.com/)

Here's Laz writing about this year's race the night before -
[http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8311134](http://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=8311134)

\- The Big Backyard Ultra. A race of attrition. A 4'ish mile loop every hour
on the hour until there is only one runner left (who must complete the course
solo, otherwise no winners). In 2014, two runners got to 204 miles at which
point they both agreed to quit as one of them had to catch a plane. No winner
that year.
[https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=44026](https://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=44026)

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njovin
There is a great documentary about the Barkley Marathon on Netflix (US) [1].
It does an excellent job of telling the stories of the origin of the race, the
race itself, and the people who take it on. I highly recommend it.

[1]
[https://www.netflix.com/title/80076413?s=i&trkid=(null)](https://www.netflix.com/title/80076413?s=i&trkid=\(null\))

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Zanta
One of the barkley finishers (serendipitously featured in the documentary!)
wrote a terrific and long race report [1]. Really good and unpolished insight
into the training and race experience. I enjoyed reading it just as much as I
enjoyed the documentary others have mentioned.

[1] [http://lakewoodhiker.blogspot.ca/2012/04/2012-barkley-
marath...](http://lakewoodhiker.blogspot.ca/2012/04/2012-barkley-marathons-
race-report.html)

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bbctol
My favorite post-race report is from the infamous Andrew Thompson run of 2005,
in which a promising young runner headed into the fifth loop with a good time
and then completely lost his mind from sleep deprivation, spending the next
hour vividly hallucinating and wandering aimlessly through the woods.

[http://www.mattmahoney.net/barkley/2005/andrew.html](http://www.mattmahoney.net/barkley/2005/andrew.html)

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jbob2000
There is a great documentary on Netflix about this marathon, it has some funny
moments and it's pretty engaging. I don't usually watch documentaries and I'd
highly recommend it.

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js2
There's also a short documentary (20'ish mins) on Vimeo:
[https://vimeo.com/97270099](https://vimeo.com/97270099)

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runnr_az
My buddy Jamil does this race... he completed the "Fun Run" once. Insanity.
This year, he's doing something like 100,000 ft of climbing in training to try
and prepare to finish it.

Given that he's a multiple-time Hardrock finisher, it really makes you realize
how badass the guys are who finish that race.

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rofex
Holy shit. Great writing. Really felt the anguish and tragedy of the extra six
seconds at the end...

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jrowley
Any ultrarunners on HN? Anyone doing the north face endurance challenge in
November in Marin?

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docdeek
Ultrarunner here but based in France.

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ourmandave
Does admitting your an ultrarunner void the warranty on your Fitbit?

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thriftwy
It seems that this marathon has approximate difficulty of a roguelike game.

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paulcole
The Everest comparisons are a little inaccurate. Climbing Everest isn't a
30,000' gain. You "start" at like 17,000'.

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mannykannot
On the other hand, on Everest, you have to contend with thin air.

