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Podcast: Ultrarunning History
Episode: The 2024 Barkley Marathons
Description: By Davy Crockett
New book on Barkley history
The Barkley Marathons course (thought to be roughly 130 miles and about 63,000 feet of elevation gain) at Frozen Head State Park was the brain child of Gary Cantrell (Lazarus Lake) and Karl Henn (Rawdawg). The idea for the race was inspired upon hearing about the 1977 escape of James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., from nearby Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.
The first year of the Barkley was 1986. Prior to 2024, only 17 men had finished the entire rugged course within 60 hours, and no women had ever finished. That would change this year.
Let’s...