
Lazarus Lake, the Man Behind the Barkley Marathons - joegahona
https://www.outsideonline.com/2392166/barkely-marathons-lazarus-lake
======
mark_h
They're running right now if that's not obvious; the best way I know of to
follow along is [https://twitter.com/keithdunn](https://twitter.com/keithdunn)
(includes bonus kitten/puppy content, but mainly it's blow-by-blow coverage of
the carnage unfolding)

~~~
timtammittee
Yep and only one person left in the run. He's on lap 4 of 5 which he has to
finish by 9:23a

------
dang
[https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/47040763](https://www.bbc.com/sport/athletics/47040763)
is related, via
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19530092](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19530092).

Also, from 2017:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14026697](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14026697)

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14873639](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=14873639)

------
sumoboy
I remember watching this on netflix a while back,
[https://www.netflix.com/title/80076413](https://www.netflix.com/title/80076413)

It was like 75% failed the first day.

------
js2
One thing this article leaves out about Laz is that he is a fantastic writer.
I relish his race reports and updates. But sometimes he writes about other
events. Here’s a taste:

her spot

if there is one thing you relish as a coach, it is leaving your players with
memories. sure, playing ball is not the most important thing in life. it is a
small piece of a life.

for the kids who play it seems much larger than it is. because their life is
yet short. the many years, the many important moments of adulthood those are
still in the future. scarcely even imagined. playing ball is the first thing
they have that is entirely their own. their place is not made for them by
their parents. it is something they have to do for themselves.

i used to think that it was a good thing to try to get every kid that one big
moment. that one at bat. that one free throw. that one moment where everything
was on the line and it all depended on them.

i learned that was not what every player relishes. most want to play a role,
to be a part. to make big plays and take part in big wins.but that split
second, where everything rides on you...

and you know it...

that is not for everyone. as a coach you must know your players. and ask of
them only what they have to give.

the most important thing as a coach is to teach the lessons of life. to teach
the value of hard work. how to win with class and lose with dignity. how to be
proud of giving your all no matter if it was enough how to be part of a team
and play your role, whether or not it brought personal glory to take
satisfaction in doing your part, not in the praise that comes with it.

and no matter what their role, you want them to leave knowing that they were
good. having memories that will last a lifetime.

i love the girls state in 4 days i get to see everything that is good about
sports and everything that is good about the next generation coming up. the
girls bring with them exquisite skills, incomparable teamwork. the game is
often as much art as sport.

and i also get to share, vicariously the joy of competition. on the crucible
of competition, every player shows who they are. these are great teams, and
great players, or they would not be on this floor on this day. yet every game
one team ends with the thrill of victory and the other ends their season with
tears; hopes for the coveted gold ball dashed.

this is a story about one girl on one team on one day.

and it is also the story of every girl who ever takes the floor.

45 is not a star. her team has star players the players that everyone sees the
players that get the headlines. 45 is what they call a role player...

people sometimes use that term as if it is an insult. the truth is, role
players are the heart and soul of a great team.

no matter how bright your stars might shine everything they accomplish is
built on the foundation of the role players that support them. being a role
player is not easy. when you advance a level in sports every player was once a
star. on a high school baseball team, almost every player was a shortstop
and/or the cleanup batter in little league. on a high school basketball team,
almost every player was a point guard and/or a high scorer in jr pro. for most
kids, moving up means adopting a new role on the team. for some kids it means
going home to a momma that says; "you can shoot as good as x, you should shoot
more." or a daddy that says; "you can handle the ball as good as y, you should
be the point guard." what not every parent sees is that every job is equally
important. it is the player who must understand they are still just as
important. they just have new responsibilities.

as a coach, i always saved the praise when we went over a game for the player
who fought for position on rebounds, who drew the charge, who locked his man
down on defense. we never even talked about scoring. i always felt like, when
someone's job was to score, that had its own rewards.

45 was a solid player on a very good team. i saw her and her team's other role
players' blue collar work all week, and it was no accident that their team was
playing in the finals.

at 5-10 she was big enough for her post position. she didn't tower over
people, but she had excellent body control. she was a ferocious defender, and
a dogged rebounder. like every player on her team she showed the marvelous
skills of a lifetime of preparation, and the unbending will to win of a
champion.

their opponent in the championship game was every bit as good as 45's team.
they had knocked out the 3-time defending state champions in a huge upset in
the semifinals.

sometimes after a game of that magnitude a team has nothing left. not this
team. they had come on a mission to bring home a gold ball. and they would not
be denied.

the game was exactly what you would expect when two great teams that refuse to
lose meet on the floor, with everything on the line.

the game went back and forth. first one team gained the upper hand, and then
the other. and as the score seesawed, the roar of the crowd went from one side
of the gym to the other. and then back again.

every basket, every rebound, steal, foul, or blocked shot. hell, every pass
was magnified a thousandfold.

the other post, 42, was a big star. a prolific shot blocker, with silky smooth
moves on offense (and a deadly outside shot) by the last quarter she was
playing with 4 fouls.

so, down the stretch, 45's team had relied on 33. a little wisp of a sophomore
point guard, with the heart of a lion 33 just would not be denied. time and
again as the last minutes ticked off the clock she had somehow managed to
weave thru the tall timber to the basket slip the ball thru invisible gaps in
the sea of arms trying to deny her shot and bank the ball in off the glass.

going into the last minute, 45's team trailed. time and again 33 had worked
her magic to keep them within a point time and again the opponent had
answered. until at the last possible moment, they finally got a steal, and
brought the ball down with a chance to take the lead.

the coach called timeout with 8 seconds on the clock down by a single point.
the play he called would decide the outcome of the game, the season, and for
the seniors on the team, like 45, their careers in basketball.

everyone in the gym knew what was coming. they would get the ball to 33, and
she would take it to the basket. everyone likewise knew the opponent had two
objectives that i know they went over in their huddle.

first, deny 33 the ball. and, if she managed to get it, force her left. she
was not as deadly effective from the left side.

despite the opponent's best efforts 45's team got the ball to 33 and the last
8 seconds of the season began to tick away. walled off to her right, 33
reversed directions and came back to the left. it was almost too easy to turn
her.. the opponent scarcely noticed, they had 33 going left, just like they
wanted.

altho she had a man guarding her 45 had taken a position on the left wing,
just beyond the arc of the 3 point line.

maybe, given time to analyze the situation, someone would have asked why she
was out there, and not in the post....

but only maybe.

after all, she had not taken a shot during the entire game.

besides, that kind of time did not exist. the clock was under 5 seconds, and
33 had found a tiny gap in the defense to drive down the left side of the
lane. 45's defender peeled off, to join the remainder of the defense trying to
thwart 33's drive to the basket....

instead of taking the ball into heavy traffic, 33 whipped a pass to 45. face
up square to the goal, and completely alone.

a coach has to know his players and give them the chance to find greatness in
themselves. he has to know the player who will relish the chance at that one
unforgettable moment when everything is on the line, and it all depends on
them.

45 was one of those players.

there was no time for 45 to think about where she was not then not at that
moment.

no time to reflect on all the practices all the games the jr pro, and travel
teams, middle school and 4 long years of high school. to contemplate all the
wins and losses, the joys and the sorrows, the good times and the adversities.

no time to think of the thousands, or tens of thousands of times she had
practiced this exact same shot. countless times imagining taking it in this
exact situation.

no time to realize that this was the last time she would ever touch the ball
in competition.

because every player has their favorite spot to shoot. they know it. their
teammates know it. their coach knows it....

only the opponent does not know it.

i am betting 45 was in that exact spot.

45 caught the ball cleanly and released her shot as smooth as silk. and why
not? i am sure this whole maneuver has been practiced between her and 33
thousands of times. drive and kick catch and shoot. we all do these drills.
every team that plays does these drills. dreaming of the day we do it with
everything on the line.

i was in a perfect line behind 45 when she released the ball. and there was
never any question that it was true. the ball did not so much as brush against
iron. it scarcely tickled the nets, and then the buzzer sounded as it dropped
to the floor.

45 had played her final role.

the stats will always read 1-1, 3 points.

but stats will eventually be forgotten. the moment will live forever.

god, i love this game.

[https://mbasic.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=17279833606...](https://mbasic.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1727983360680592&id=100004068348429)

~~~
got2surf
Incredible - got goosebumps reading that

