Barkley Marathons: the origin story of the world's quirkiest trail ultra

A key part of the romance of the Barkley Marathons is the air of secrecy that surrounds it, so it feels somehow appropriate that the origins of the race are also shrouded in mystery.

The Barkley Marathons is the brainchild of long-time race director Greg “Lazarus Lake” Cantrell and his buddy Karl “Raw Dog” Henn who spent time in the 1970s and ‘80s hiking around Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee.

Laz, as Cantrell is universally known, has generally eschewed publicity about the race. But in the past few years, as the fascination with the Barkley has grown, a fuller picture has started to come into focus.

In early 2025, Laz was interviewed as part of the documentary The Edge of Possible. He explains the lack of clear information about the race as a deliberate tactic - part of efforts to ensure it remains as difficult as possible. “You don’t usually dispel rumours about the Barkley,” he says.

“The more misinformation’s out there the less good information [is available] … You don’t confirm or deny anything.”

Inspired by a jail break… or was it?

When it comes to theories on the inspiration for the Barkleys, Laz has largely stuck to the “don’t confirm or deny anything” mantra. But in The Edge of Possible he comes clean.

In 1986, the first Barkley was run. At the time, it was a 50 mile race with a 24 hour cut-off. The current format of five, 50 mile laps with a 60 hour cut-off was adopted in 1995.

For much of the race’s history the prevailing wisdom has been that the Barkley was inspired by an escape from the nearby Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. The escapee in question was one of the more high profile in US history - James Earl Ray, the man who confessed to the assassination of Martin Luther King.

Ray arrived at the prison in early 1970. Seven years later he and six other inmates used a home-made ladder to climb over a wall to freedom. Unfortunately for Ray, and as Barkley competitors can attest, the terrain around the prison is extremely difficult to traverse. He was recaptured a little more than two days later having travelled only a short distance - eight miles is the most often quoted figure - from the prison.

Until now, legend has dictated that Laz and Raw Dog were not impressed. Having regularly hiked the terrain, their assessment, the story says, is that it should be possible to cover 100 miles in that time, so they devised the Barkley to test that theory.

It’s a great story, even if it’s a furphy. But in The Edge of Possible, Laz has revealed there is at least a grain of truth in it. The story of James Earl Ray became part of Barkley lore some years after the origin of the race.

“I started hiking here in ‘73, the James Earl Ray escape was in ‘76. I followed it with great interest, everybody did. We had particular interest because I knew the places he was going to. I knew what kind of a mess he got into,” Laz says. It was several years before he and Raw Dog started the Barkley. “We didn’t really think about the two.

“Every year you’d do a race write-up about the race and one year I stumbled across a magazine article about James Earl Ray’s escape. It had all these quotes from him talking about training for the escape and during the escape and how he felt.

“So I took those quotes and worked them into the [race recap] story as if it was one of the runners. I didn’t give his name until the end. I thought it was clever and funny and that was just it. But then when people started saying: ‘Oh, the race was inspired by James Earl Ray,’ you just say: ‘Whatever.’ You don’t confirm or deny.”

So, inspired by a prison break out? No. Connected to one? Yes. But really who can say for sure? Only Laz knows and as he also says, misinformation is all part of the DNA of the Barkley Marathons.

One thing we do know, the prison, which is no longer operational, is now part of the Barkley course. Competitors run through a tunnel that runs under the prison. If there’s been rain in the lead-up to the race, the tunnel becomes a stream. Nowadays the prison serves as a museum, offering tours (including “paranormal tours”) and operating as a distillery, function centre and concert venue.