
All 40 Runners Fail at 100-Mile Tennessee Mountain Race - ph0rque
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-03-30/all-40-runners-fail-to-complete-100-mile-tennessee-mountain-race
======
error54
It's interesting to note that in every year that someone finishes, they add
additional parts to the course making it more difficult for the competitors in
the following year.

 _In 2013, Nick Hollon finished in 57:41 and Travis Wildeboer in 58:41. A new
hill was added, "foolish stu", increasing the total climb to over 60,000 feet.

In 2014, Jared Campbell got his second finish in 57:50. Another new hill,
Hiram's Vertical Smile, brings the total climb to 62,680 ft.[1]_

1- [http://www.mattmahoney.net/barkley/](http://www.mattmahoney.net/barkley/)

~~~
gesman
I think this "addition" of complexities needs to be treated as totally new
course each time such addition is made.

Otherwise previous finishers (total respect to them of course) would claim to
do something that new participants cannot using the identical name of
event/race. Which in fact is totally different race by now.

Marathon is not adding extra 10km every year to compensate for too many
finishers.

~~~
eitally
I would agree with you if the competitors were in any way competing on time
over the course of multiple years, but in reality they aren't. It's a one time
race, repeated annually, and each course & victory stands alone. (Not like
other extreme ultras like the Leadville 100, etc, where there absolutely is
competition each year to lower the record.)

~~~
beatboxrevival
I don't think many ultra runners would consider Leadville extreme. It's mostly
fire roads. Ever since the buy-out from Lifetime Fitness, the top runners seem
to skip the event.

------
AndrewKemendo
As an ultramarathoner I can tell you that the Barkley is notorious in the
community.

Here are the r/ultramarathon threads on it this year:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/Ultramarathon/comments/30x5at/all_40...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Ultramarathon/comments/30x5at/all_40_runners_fail_at_100mile_tennessee_mountain/)

[http://www.reddit.com/r/Ultramarathon/comments/30isk7/you_he...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Ultramarathon/comments/30isk7/you_heard_it_here_first_this_will_be_the_year_a/)

~~~
arethuza
Great comment on that first one:

"Fail is a strong word. I'm sure every one of the runners were successful in
learning something about themselves. You fail by not trying."

~~~
scuba7183
You also fail by failing to complete the race

~~~
arethuza
Makes me think of "The Man in the Arena":

 _It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong
man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The
credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred
by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short
again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but
who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the
great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows
in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails,
at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with
those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat._

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship_in_a_Republic](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizenship_in_a_Republic)

------
cwal37
I live slightly south of Frozen Head, and have hiked there a number of times
in the last year or so since I moved down here (dryish-winter hike[1], a snowy
day up top[2]). It really is a beautiful park and TN state parks are free, so
if you're in the area I recommend stopping by.

I've been trying to convince a few ultra-marathoner friends to apply for the
Barkley since I got out here, but they're all extremely hesitant. From
everything I've read and gathered this race is just totally unlike what
they're used to out West in terms of its general terrain (including plants,
stepping off the trails in the spring and summer you can quickly get into
quite vicious thorns, and the race isn't really on trails anyways as far as I
know), and overall idiosyncratic nature. The weather down here can also be all
over the place this time of year. I hiked Frozen Head in the high 50s/low 60s
back in late January or early February; this past Sunday I was 2 hours south,
in the Smokies, hiking in 5-6 inches of snow.

It's certainly a personal pie-in-the-sky feat to dream about before I move
away in a few years, but realistically I'll just settle for an AT through hike
instead (which should be far, far more manageable).

[1]
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/sets/721576407426...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/sets/72157640742661175/)

[2]
[https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/sets/721576422837...](https://www.flickr.com/photos/23215983@N02/sets/72157642283756455/)

~~~
mason240
If that kind race looks interesting, but you are not an ultra-marathoner,
check out orienteering: [http://www.mensjournal.com/adventure/outdoor/the-
rise-of-ori...](http://www.mensjournal.com/adventure/outdoor/the-rise-of-
orienteering-no-path-no-rules-20150327).

It's basically a land navigation race. The club I'm in,
([http://mnoc.org](http://mnoc.org)), does courses that are usually 3km to 8km
in length (there will be several to choose from).

The events are pretty minimalist compared to obstacle races like Warrior Dash,
mud runs, ect. It's just you, a map, and a large chunk of woods.

~~~
cwal37
That actually sounds incredibly appealing, thanks for the heads up. I love
finding my way with a map and a compass, but I've somehow never heard of
orienteering specifically before.

I hike basically every weekend, but since most of that is in the Smokies I
adhere to the trails. It would be nice to venture into some more self-guided
routes. I have relatives up near the UP I visit once or twice a year, I'll
definitely look into this the next time I'm near a more active orienteering
community.

~~~
nl
There's also the sport of rogaining, which is like orienteering but much
longer (6-24
hours):[http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogaining](http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogaining)

------
sheltgor
Watched a great documentary on the Barkley awhile back. I've done a city full
and a trail half marathon, but its mindblowing to comprehend just how rough
this race is. For those not familiar with the handful of people who have
finished, these guys are seriously tough. Brian Robinson has a wikipedia page
([http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Robinson_%28hiker%29](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Robinson_%28hiker%29))
that highlights his accomplishments, and the Barkley is one of them:

"Brian Robinson was the first person to hike the Pacific Crest Trail, the
Appalachian Trail and the Continental Divide Trail (or the Hiker Triple Crown)
in one year, a total distance of over 7,000 miles."

"In the years following the Calendar Triple Crown, Robinson became an active
ultra-marathoner. He has completed several 100-mile races, including the
Western States 100 and the Hardrock Hundred Mile Endurance Run. In 2008 he set
the course record at the Barkley Marathons, a grueling 100 mile course in
Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee."

Jared Campbell has also, I believe, won Hardrock previously.

~~~
yesiamyourdad
The best part of that documentary (I'm guessing it's the same one) is that the
official starting signal for the race is when Cantrell lights a cigarette.

Also, the license plate is part of the entry fee. You have to bring him a
plate to enter in the race.

Also, there are no trails, no markers, and the only aid station is the
starting line which you pass 4 times during the race. You do have to stop and
check in at various stations to verify that you actually did the course. IIRC,
you had to pick up some kind of memento from the station. As someone
mentioned, you're frequently going through brambles.

The entire idea of the race was based on James' Earl Ray's attempted escape.
Cantrell was fascinated that a man on foot could make it only 8 miles in
almost 60 hours, and that led to him starting the race.

~~~
karlshea
Which documentary is it?

~~~
sheltgor
My mistake, forgot to include the link:
[https://vimeo.com/97270099](https://vimeo.com/97270099)

------
ccleve
A brisk walk is 4 miles per hour and an average walk is 3 miles per hour. If
you do the race at a slow walk, 2 miles per hour, you'll do the 100 miles in
much less than the allotted 60 hours.

Which means that the elevation and sleep deprivation must really take their
toll. Those are the limiting factors, not running speed.

~~~
capex
Check out Naismith's Rule. A climb of 60,000 ft alone adds about a hundred
hours to the speed you've mentioned above.

[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith%27s_rule](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naismith%27s_rule)

~~~
cpncrunch
It adds 30 hours at 3mph. 63 hours total.

~~~
trhway
actually there are 60000ft of ascent and 60000ft of descent in that race. With
steep and or bad condition of descents (check the photos from the links others
posted), you need to apply the rule (at least partially) to descents too. Thus
we come almost all the way to 90hrs.

~~~
forrestthewoods
And speed has got to be a good bit slower at night.

------
ceruleus
_“I got a little confused where I was,” Coury said upon returning to camp,
explaining that he took an eight-hour nap on a mountaintop after getting
lost._

Man, I take one of those naps every day and I'm not even running 100 miles.
What's wrong with me.

~~~
jmnicolas
I'm left to wonder what is a regular sleep cycle for him ;-)

------
derrida
I'm planning to compete in a 75km race with 4 1000 meter vertical assents in
October. This is about as mountainous as you can get in Australia. This is a
walk in the part compared to the races in Europe, New Zealand and North
America, which have more geologically recent mountain ranges, and communities
in which alpine / mountaineering / orienteering and running cross over.

I've heard Anton Krupicka (well known and achieve North American ultra racer)
refer to the UTMB (the most well known ultra marathon race in Europe, in which
a loop of Mt Blanc taking in 3 countries is done) as "unexpectedly flat"

Here's some footage of that race:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St49BdhuA8c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St49BdhuA8c)

I look at the course profile for that, and the course profile for the 4 1000m
assents for the 75km race I'm doing in October and think "how do that many
people finish".

The US has harder races, which still have remarkably high finishing rates. The
"Hard Rock 100" (miles) is basically at times a rope-free scramble up mountain
tops, and it has a remarkably high finishing rate (when we're talking more
that 10% of the field finishing, it's remarkable)

It's quite amazing the variation among ultra races, and 100 miles is not just
100 miles.

The interesting thing is that many of the trail / mountain runners need that
sort of variation for psychological reasons and find things like 100 mile
tarmac races to be more psychologically and physically taxing. A mountain /
trail race having highs and lows geologically, mentally, physically but a flat
tarmac race having less variation being harder to switch out of a down patch,
and requiring serious inner resilience to counter-act a "runners low".

~~~
nl
I'm surprised there's nothing more extreme in Australia. I'm in Adelaide, and
we have road cycling events with 4000m climbing in 140km. You don't need high
mountains to get the total elevation, just lots of steep climbs.

~~~
windowsworkstoo
We generally don't have sustained climbs, especially like those in Europe. In
cycling terms, we don't have an Alp d'Huez or a Tormalet - something that is
15+ km of HC climb.

We tend to either 2 - 5km of sharp steep stuff, or maybe up to 15km of less
sharp (like cat 3/4) climbs.

It's that sustained climbing at > 9% that will get ya.

~~~
davidw
You don't need the high mountains to get lots of total climbing. Look at the
Ardennes races coming up in Belgium, or even the Amstel Gold race - 4000
meters of climbing in the Netherlands!

------
wetmore
There's a fascinating essay about this run here:
[http://www.believermag.com/issues/201105/?read=article_jamis...](http://www.believermag.com/issues/201105/?read=article_jamison)

------
nl
The _Outside_ magazine story of the Barkley is pretty good if you are looking
for some background: [http://www.outsideonline.com/1924491/60-hours-hell-
story-bar...](http://www.outsideonline.com/1924491/60-hours-hell-story-
barkley-marathons)

It's be interesting to see Jornet try it sometime.

~~~
soci
Now that you mention Kilian Jornet (the world famous sky runner), I can't
refrain from saying that at KiteBit we actually built and run the service used
by him and others to sell his movies.

Technology stack we have set up at KiteBit is RoR + Unicorn + Redis + Postgres
+ Vagrant. And we make also make use of Sendgrid + AWS S3 + CloudFront +
ElasticTranscoder.

Kilian's movies and other stuff from him are on sale at his website
summitsofmylife.com. This is a PrestaShop store but when it comes to the
downloads and video streaming it's KiteBit (our service) which takes the
relieve.

------
zgniatacz
[https://vimeo.com/97270099](https://vimeo.com/97270099)

~~~
themodelplumber
You should have included a description! I was about to post that link myself.
It's a really impressive documentary about the race and shows why it's so
difficult and what's so neat about it. The music score is awesome too.

------
jefflinwood
I don't think most of the entrants expected to succeed, so that's not too big
a surprise. Even in a "runnable" 100 mile ultra marathon, only about 50-70%
usually finish the race. You can see some stats here:

[http://run100s.com/ultra.htm](http://run100s.com/ultra.htm)

The same race director puts on a much more finishable race - 314 miles,
typically self supported, in the middle of summer, across the entire state of
Tennessee:

[http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=29688](http://ultrasignup.com/register.aspx?did=29688)

It's on my list of runs to do.

~~~
nswanberg
I understand race preferences are idiosyncratic but what about Vol-State
appeals to you? Distance? Crossing a state? Laz?

If anything on your list includes something in Colorado (or Bighorn or Fat Dog
this year) send me a note--pacing is sometimes more fun than racing. (Same
goes for anyone else reading this).

------
sytelus
Is this really harder than Mount Baker Marathon? That one involves 108 miles
of trail from sea to summit of 10,700 foot snow clad volcano. Just climbing
the volcano alone even when starting at 5000ft is usually quite a bit of an
accomplishment. This race adds a long ~100 mile run on the top of it.

[http://www.trailrunnermag.com/people/adventure/1495-revival-...](http://www.trailrunnermag.com/people/adventure/1495-revival-
of-the-toughest-race-youve-never-heard-of)

~~~
TylerE
Yea, way harder. The vertical climb is equivlant to going up and down your
volcano almost 6 times.

Also, the whole thing thing is in backwoods on practically non-existent
trails.

------
cgsmith
It always amazes me that there is always, _always_ , a harder race out there
then the one I've done.

Humbling...

~~~
dalke
Do you reckon the 1% of the people who completed are looking for something
even harder?

~~~
cgsmith
Wow, that is a good thought as well. I imagine the 1% of competitors that
complete the race would be willing to do any challenge given to them.

Just constantly driven.

~~~
eitally
There are a small handful of extreme races that are all approaching impossible
in their own special way. The Barkley, because of it's traversal of insane
undergrowth and ridiculous total elevation, is one. The Marathon des Sables
([http://www.marathondessables.co.uk/](http://www.marathondessables.co.uk/))
across part of the Sahara is another (6 days max to traverse 251km while
carrying all your supplies except a tent (and you can refill water containers
each night at the aid stations)). The Arrowhead 135 is essentially the same
style, but conducted in northern Minnesota in the middle of winter
([http://www.arrowheadultra.com/index.php/race-
inforegistratio...](http://www.arrowheadultra.com/index.php/race-
inforegistration/race-rules)). The Iditarod is a fourth.

~~~
narrator
Meh, the Iditarod is easy. They should do the Antarctica dog sled race to the
south pole. Amundsen did that one at the beginning on the 20th century with
ease.

I once was in Argentina and met some people who were going to climb Vincent
Mastiff in Antarctica. The tallest peak in Antarctica. It cost them something
like $25,000 a person to fly their group in. Basically you have to get someone
willing to fly a perfectly good long range airplane and land it on a glacier
in the middle of nowhere with no hope of rescue if you screw up.. and then you
have to have it take back off and get you back to south america. Now that's
adventure.

~~~
dalke
Perhaps eitally refers to the Iditarod Trail Invitational?

> The Iditarod Trail Invitational is the world's longest winter ultra marathon
> by mountain bike, foot and ski and follows the historic Iditarod Trail from
> Knik, Alaska over the Alaska Range to McGrath and to Nome in late February
> every year one week before the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. The short race 350
> miles finishes in the interior village of McGrath on the Kuskokwim River and
> the 1000 mile race finishes in Nome. Racers have to finish the 350 mile race
> in a previous year before they can enter the 1000 mile race.

~~~
eitally
Yes, thank you for clarifying.

------
olalonde
Since not many sports news make it to HN's front page, I am wondering why this
one did. Am I missing some context or is running just popular among the HN
crowd?

~~~
mburns
It is a uniquely difficult and quirky marathon. One of the qualifications is
bringing the organizer a pack of his favorite brand of cigarettes, etc.

[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/sports/the-barkley-
maratho...](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/28/sports/the-barkley-marathons-
few-know-how-to-enter-fewer-finish.html)

------
cconcepts
Ultra distance running has always been something that has inspired me - I got
into it through my friend Mal Law who has just run 50 marathons in 50
consecutive days over 50 mountains (I think adding the mountains made it
unique compared to past efforts).
[http://www.high50.org.nz/](http://www.high50.org.nz/)

------
trestletech
We need a new work for not succeeding at something as unfeasible as this.
"Fail" doesn't seem appropriate...

~~~
acadien
All the runners came in 2nd to last, I guess.

------
whalesalad
Reminds me of the book Born to Run. For anyone who has taken any sort of
interest in running, I highly recommend it. [http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-
Hidden-Superathletes-Greatest...](http://www.amazon.com/Born-Run-Hidden-
Superathletes-Greatest/dp/0307279189)

~~~
esolyt
I'd recommend it even more if you're not interested in running. It might
change your mind.

~~~
whalesalad
Completely agree.

------
cafard
Pretty harsh. At the Old Dominion 100, finishers under 24 hours get a silver
belt buckle, and there are always some handed out. It has plenty of relief--or
so it seems to those going over Massanutten Mountain in the dark at about 70
miles in--but I'd guess the total climb to be well under 10,000 ft.

(Information based on going as "handler" a couple of times many years ago for
a friend, who got the buckle on her second try.)

------
tedmcory
This might put things in perspective. [http://www.irunfar.com/2014/04/silver-
linings-at-the-barkley...](http://www.irunfar.com/2014/04/silver-linings-at-
the-barkley-marathons-jared-campbells-2014-report.html)

------
lancefisher
I knew this was Barkley without even having to click through. it is notorious,
and unlike other ultras - tough terrain and tons of elevation gain/loss. I
love running ultras, but I also like to finish. This one is not on my list.

------
allworknoplay
Fail? I would say that they succeeded simply by getting most of the way.

------
guelo
Is the race supposed to honor James Earl Ray? That's fucked up.

~~~
dtparr
I'm pretty sure that's not the case. My reading was just that his escape was
the inspiration for this particular physical feat. I wouldn't say it honors
him any more than those escape from Alcatraz triathlons honor the escapees or
marathons in general are political statements about Athens v. Persia.

------
malandrew
What opportunities are there to get into long-distance orienteering races in
the SF Bay Area? I'm already randonneuring and this seems like another sport
worth exploring.

------
josu
>With a finisher rate of about 1 percent, the Barkley has been labeled by many
as the world’s hardest race

The 1% figure doesn't add up with the rest of the data they provide

~~~
detaro
> In 30 years, 14 out of about 1,100 runners have completed the race, made up
> of five loops around a mountainous 20-mile course. With a finisher rate of
> about 1 percent

14/1100 = 0.0127…

------
TN2398
> Cantrell was inspired to hold a race in the rugged mountains by James Earl
> Ray’s failed 1977 escape from Brushy Mountain State Prison.

My southern racism sense is tingling.

------
fsk
It's like Ninja Warrior (the Japanese version).

------
BorisMelnik
Should it really be considered a "race" if less than 1% of people finish?

