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Barkley Marathons, Outdoors, Running

2017 Barkley Marathons Results & Reports

Barkley Yellow gate

The Yellow Gate, Courtesy of Finally Found Something I love

On April 1 at 1:42 am, the 2017 Barkley Marathons kicked off with race favorite Gary Robbins predicted to win if anyone could. He came pretty close, but in the end only John Kelly tapped the yellow gate in time to become the 15th Barkley finisher.

Barker (Runner) Race Results

All times from Matt Mahoney’s running summary page and other sources.  Numbers at left do not indicate place or bib numbers, just the count of runners:

VictimLoop 1Loop 2Loop 3Loop 4Loop 5Other
1. John
Kelly
9:29:2520:18:5032:58:4946:26:0659:30:53Report
Rep 2
2. Gary
Robbins
9:29:2720:18:5232:58:5046:26:07DNF *
60:00:06
Report
3. Sean Ranney9:55:4222:38:4237:53:39
4. Johan Steene9:59:4922:38:3937:53:40
5. Erik Storheim10:41:2825:06:0039:03:25Report
6. Rob Youngren10:41:2225:05:5639:03:26
7. Benoit Laval9:55:4123:06:49
8. Jamil Coury10:54:4623:08:01
9. Mikael Heerman10:00:23
10. Scott Breeden10:41:30
11. Megan Farrell
(2016 F BFC 1st)
10:51:53
12. Michael Versteeg10:54:43
12. Brandon Stapanowich10:54:44Report
14. Heather Anderson11:09:33
15. Adam Lint11:09:39
16. Kathleen Cusick11:29:03
17. Henry Wakley11:33:54
18. Dale Holdaway12:09:49
19. Seth Wolpin12:10:00Report
20. Jason Lantz
(2016 BFC Win)
12:21:11
21. Guillaume Arthus12:56:08Report
22. Wen Hsiao Chiu12:56:14
23. Ed Thomas12:56:40
24. Gina Fiorini13:07:05
25. Dewayne Satterfield13:09:21
26. Hiram Rogers13:15:40
27+DNF
Starters4024722NA
Finishers268621NA

* Late and off course by at least two miles

Racer Notes

John Kelly finish video on YouTube shows him tapping the yellow gate in his now famous orange hat:

And from John’s first race report:

The toll that that 5th loop took on me was an order of magnitude beyond what 4+ did last year and I haven’t really been able to process and enjoy things yet. I believe in a previous year Jared Campbell jokingly told laz that a loop “extracted part of his soul” and that’s honestly how I feel right now.

Gary Robbins had this to say about his fatal mistake at the end of Loop 5:

I ripped open my map and the gravity of things hit me. I did not have enough time left to correct my mistake by going up and over the mountain again. If I did this I would have finished in maybe 60:05 and I would not be an official Barkley Marathons finisher. Here’s the thing though, that’s exactly what I should have done, and the one regret I have after now sleeping is not doing just that.

Erik Storheim finished a Fun Run in a positive state of mind:

As I touched the Gate for the 3rd (and last) time, a flood of emotions surged through me.  I struggled to hold back the tears of happiness and gratitude.  The sense of accomplishment was almost more than I could handle.

Race Recaps

The most famous non-finish of all time is recapped in Where Dreams Go to Die‘s recap of Gary Robbins 2016 and 2017 non-finishes:

Canadian Trail Running recapped Gary’s near finish in the article, “2017 Barkley Marathons features one finisher, heartbreak for Gary Robbins.” And the National’s Running Wild article recalled this great quote from RD laz himself:

“I was mostly fascinated by the thought of the escape itself,” Laz continues. “Not that I wanted to be a fugitive, but the idea of being pursued through the mountains by people with dogs sounded intriguing. I was pretty confident that I would never be caught.”

Which is an inspiring way to found a race..or a death match.

Input & More

If you see any other race reports buy runners or crew,  or particularly good recaps, let me know. And as always, if you want to learn more about the Barkley, check out the following:

Peace, and good luck Out There.

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