Want to create an interactive transcript for this episode?
Podcast: Ultrarunning History
Episode: 20: Barkley Marathons – First Few Years
Description: By Davy Crockett
Both a podcast episode and a full article
Learn about the beginnings of Barkley, and the early years in this new book
The Barkley Marathons, the toughest trail race in the world, is held in and near Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee, with a distance of more than 100 miles. The first year it was held was in 1986, and it is now world famous. Only 40 runners are selected to run.
Barkley is the brainchild of Gary Cantrell (Lazarus Lake) and Karl Henn (Raw Dog). In 1985, they had been intrigued by the very few miles that James Earl Ra...