2019 Barkley Marathons Results & Reports

The 2019 Barkley Marathons kicked off at 9:23 AM ET on March 30 for a sunny day loop, followed by rain and hail and arctic temperatures, followed by the usual chaos. Race favorites dropped out early.  No wonder Laz said: “I feel a bloodbath coming on.” And it was — for the second year in a row, there were no finishers of the Barkleys, and no one even finished the fourth loop.

“it wasn’t the snow that got them, tho.
it was the hours of colder and colder rain, hail, sleet, and finally snow,
along with high winds that paved the way to it.”
Gary “Laz” Cantrell

This summary of results (and eventually reports) will be updated as new information comes in. If you have any details on runners, times or otherwise, let me know.

Barker (Runner) Results & Reports

All times from Facbook (BFC), Twitter (#BM100), Keith Dunn (Twitter), Matt Mahoney, Reddit and other sources.  Numbers at left do not indicate place or bib numbers, just the count of runners:

Note that women are indicated with an underline, but all women DNF’d prior to or during the second loop. If you know the other runners or can suggest other race reports, let me know. I’ll update as new information comes in. Note that sometimes race reports are not in English, but can be easily translated using Google Translate or other means.

Race Cutoffs

As pretty much everyone knows, the total cutoff for the Barkley is 60 hours, during which runners have to cover all five (5) laps. The individual loop cutoffs are nominally 12 hours, but you can finish the 3-loop Fun Run in 40 hours, so the effective cutoff for the first three loops is 13:20 per lap; however, if you want to continue, you have to finish the Fun Run in 36 hours or less, and cutoffs thereafter are 12 hours per loop. The actual resulting cutoff times vary each year because the start-time varies each year, so, for 2019, here are the basics:

Laz’ Commentary

From the RD himself:

…in a stellar field (perhaps the strongest yet assembled at frozen head) several things worked against the humans. first, the field was laced with virgins… and, in the end, it was virgins leading the way thru loop 3 and into loop 4. the barkley is notoriously unkind to virgins.

Runner Notes

Three-time finisher Jared Campbell finished Loop 1 and then dropped due to severe ankle twist on first descent.

Five-time runner (including 2019) and perennial favorite, Jamil Coury returned for another attempt. Here is the race documentary from last year:

And this is what Jam Jam had to say on Twitter:

That’s a wrap on the 2019 edition of the Barkley Marathons. Happy to come away with my third Fun Run in five attempts here in 39 and a half hours. Honestly I was hoping for more, but that will have to wait for another year.

James Elson had this to say after dropping out on Loop 2:

I now understand why they call it the race that eats its young. It was everything I hoped for and much much more. Ultimately after a solid loop one completed in 10.5 hours, the weather turned on us as we climbed to our second book on loop 2 and really caught us out. I turned for camp without hesitation as the situation became far too dangerous.

Prior finisher John Kelly dropped after Loop 2 and bugled himself out, apparently lacking the will or joy to go on:

After loop 2, with a good amount of time left and feeling pretty strong physically, I realized that my mindset and motivation this time around had no chance of getting me through what I knew I would face on loops 4 and 5. I had found the answer I was looking for. I was also no longer having fun at that point.

Benoit Laval, the 2018 BFC winner (and Barkley golden ticket winner)  managed one loop in 11:39:12 after a 8:55:49 BFC 50k finish.

First timer Morgan McKay had this to say about her DNF on Loop 1:

I joined forces with vet Leonard and newbie Ben. We had an amazing time hiking around together and searching for books. We were looking for book 8, we were way past the cut off for lap 1. It was pouring rain and we had been searching for 2 hours. We decided it was no longer safe to continue, we were all soaked and it was getting colder. One false slip “out there” could be catastrophic, so we hiked three hours back to camp.

The man who came closest to finishing, Karel Sabbe created a documentary on his experience:

Nicky Spinks and Stephanie Case finished one lap. Here is the documentary released in late 2019 about Nicky’s efforts:

Pavel Paloncy finished Loop 1 over the time limit. From his Instagram post:

Loop 1 done. As it took me 13:39, there is no loop 2, at least not this year. After big mistake at book 1 I was flying on the course made up a lot of lost time, however shortly before book 13 (out of 14), I hit my knee badly. It took me another three and half hours to finish the loop…

Other Notes

Past Barker and source of all Barkley wisdom Matt Mahoney noted that it was:

Sunny and 80 F on day 1. Freezing rain overnight turning to snow with strong winds and low of 15 F. Major course change removing Testicle Spectacle and reintroducing Little Hell and adding the Meat Grinder.

Gary Robbins, ultra runner elite and three-time victim, didn’t compete in 2019 due to a stress fracture.

Related Stuff

Runner’s World (Everything you Need to Know about the Barkley Marathons).

Outside Online (Meet Lazarus Lake, the Man Behind the Barkley Marathons).

Trail Running Magazine (Known Starters for the 2019 Barkley Marathons).

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:

• Barkley Finish Stats
• 2018 Results | 2020 Results
• People of the Barkley (Barkers)
• Terms & Quick Reference
• Top 10 Barkley Documentaries

Peace, and good luck Out There.