Welcome to the weird, wacky, wonderful world of the Barkley Marathons

Winston Churchill once described Russia as “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma”. Much the same could be said of the Barkley Marathons, a one-of-a kind ultra-marathon designed to be almost impossible to complete.

There truly is no race like it.

There’s no set start date - at least not one that’s known by anyone other than the competitors themselves. It’s usually held in April but sometimes, like this year, takes place in March.

There’s no start line. Instead the race starts and finishes at a fabled yellow gate inside the venue, the Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee.

There’s no predetermined start time. Racers know the race could start anytime inside a window starting at midnight and closing 12 hours later on the nominated day. The actual start time is signaled by the blowing of a conch shell, which starts a 60-minute countdown.

There’s no starter’s gun/siren/whistle. The race officially starts when race organiser Gary “Lazarus Lake” Cantrell, lights a cigarette by the yellow gate.

There’s no clear method of entry. There’s no official Barkley Marathons website. Aspiring entrants need to contact Laz, as he’s universally known, via a closely guarded email address. They then step through an arcane process which includes answering questions that have nothing at all to do with running or this event. The selected few - entries are capped at 40 per year - then pay the entry fee, reported to be $1.60.

There are no watches or GPS devices allowed. Competitors have to navigate “old school” via maps and using compasses. This becomes increasingly difficult as sleep deprivation kicks in.

There’s no set course to study and follow. Each year the course is changed, usually to make it more difficult. Competitors are given a course map in the 24 hours before the start. They can study the map, but need to copy the course details onto their own maps.

There are no checkpoints. To prove they have successfully completed each lap (there are five laps in total), runners must present Laz with pages torn from books that are placed around the course. There are up to 15 books on each lap.

There are often no finishers. It’s just too bloody hard. And that’s part of what makes it so compelling!

Straightforward so far. So how does it actually work?

The race comprises five laps of a course through Frozen Head State Park. The total cut-off time is 60 hours, but there are also cut-off times for the completion of each lap. It has a ridiculous amount of elevation - somewhere approaching 18,000 metres.

The course changes each year. Because of this, and because there are no GPS devices allowed, its exact length remains a mystery, but it’s generally accepted to be around marathon distance - 26.2 miles/ 42.2 kilometres. That’s per lap.

While some of the course is run along trails, the competitors spend most of their time slogging through the scrub. Because this consists of thorny briers, it’s not uncommon for them to return to the race camp with their legs cross-hatched in fine cuts.

Each racer is given a bib number at the start of each lap - odd numbers only. To successfully complete a lap, they must navigate their way to each of the book “checkpoints” on the course, and tear from each book the page corresponding to their bib number.

The books can be hard to find. There are no cheering crowds, pumping music or strobing flouro lights at these “checkpoints”. The books are usually in a zip-lock bag to keep the weather out, taped to a tree or similar.

These pages are then presented to Laz at the completion of each lap. The choice of books demonstrates Laz’s somewhat twisted sense of humour. In 2016 titles included Life Can Be a Joyous Journey and What Did I Do Wrong?

To keep things interesting, laps can be run either clockwise or counter-clockwise. Sometimes the first two laps are clockwise and laps three and four are counter-clockwise. Sometimes the order alternates - clockwise for laps one and three and counter-clockwise for laps two and four.

But for lap five, if anyone makes it that deep into the race (and in some years they don’t), runners head in both directions. The first person who reaches the gate ready to start the final lap gets to choose which direction they’d like to tackle the course in.

If they choose clockwise, the next starter must head off counter-clockwise and so on. This reduces the opportunity for runners to work together on the final lap, ramping up the navigation difficulty level as sleep deprivation starts to really bite.

But wait, there’s more

Every year, alongside the 39 people Laz determines have the potential to complete the race, he also allows a “human sacrifice” to toe the line. This is not an amateur - it’s always an accomplished runner. But it’s a reminder of just how difficult the race is.

The race was first run in 1986. In those days it was around 80 kilometres long with a 24 hour cut-off. The current five-lap format was introduced in 1995.

Only 20 people have ever completed the course. Three people have managed the feat more than once - Brett Maune twice (2011, 2012), John Kelly three times (2017, 2023, 2024) and Jared Campbell four times (2012, 2014, 2016, 2024).

In 2024 there were five finishers including Jasmin Paris. She became the first woman to complete the Barkley Marathons, cruising home with 99 seconds to spare!

Runners who don’t manage to complete the race, but who do get through three laps within the set time limits are said to have completed a “fun run”. There’s that sense of humour again.

Race HQ is literally a camp - competitors and their support crew all pitch tents near the start line in the park. It’s decorated with, of all things, car registration plates. This is a registration requirement of all first-time competitors at the Barkleys. You must bring a rego plate from your home state. These are strung up like wind chimes around the camp.

When a runner is formally disqualified from the race, or chooses to withdraw, the occasion is marked by a bugler who plays “taps”, a solemn and haunting bugle call with origins in the military which is associated with memorial ceremonies and military funerals.

With five finishers, 2024 was a record year for the Barkleys. In 2023 there were three finishers, up from none in 2022. There’s no doubt the difficulty dial will have been turned up even more for 2025.

As I said at the outset, this is a race like no other.

If you are intrigued and would like to know more, the 2014 doco The Barkley Marathons: The Race that East its Young is a great watch. It’s available to rent via Apple TV.

• Next in the series: The Barkley Marathons origin story.