The director, the site adds, has since moved house. Mace took to phoning the forestry commission in his efforts to track down the organisers and find out how to enter, while fellow Briton James Elson, who will compete for the first time this year, sought information from former competitors.Īn unofficial Barkley website suggests hopefuls contact the race director at an address from a 1995 entry form. There is no official start time, with those who make it to Frozen Head State Park campground on the correct date notified one hour beforehand by the sound of a conch shell horn. The race, in Tennessee, traditionally begins on the weekend nearest April Fools' Day with an entry fee of just $1.60, plus a licence plate for Barkley "virgins". Those who are able to acquire a little-known email address have to file an essay - "Why I should be allowed to run in the Barkley" - on the right minute of the right day to stand any chance of bagging a spot. The majority of competitors don't finish, but at least they make it to the start line. The Barkley is almost as tough to enter as it is to complete. It's ridiculous how much you want to be back in it after you fail." How do you enter a race shrouded in mystery? "It just plays on you and eats away at you and that's why people become so obsessed. "It draws you in as some kind of fun run and a bit of a laugh but it is an incredibly serious race," two-time Barkley competitor James Mace told BBC Sport. Competitors are enticed by the idea of completing a race that is almost - but not quite - impossible. The race has gained an iconic and almost mythical status among the ultra-running community as one of the most gruelling and secretive events in the world. Last year, there wasn't a single finisher.
Hundreds have tried over the past three decades but only 15 have ever been successful. Inspired by the failed jail break by James Earl Ray, the man convicted for the assassination of civil rights activist Martin Luther King and serving a 99-year sentence, the race might well be the toughest in the world.Ĭompleting the "Barkley" has a difficulty level on a par with the jail break it derives from.
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