Despite perfect weather conditions it was a clear-cut victory to the course as just 25% of the field began the second of five laps inside the required time at the 2025 Barkley Marathons.
Only 20 people have ever finished the brutal 100-mile event in Tennessee in 30+ years, but things have changed in the last two years.
No fewer than three completed the five 20-mile loops in 2023 and then a record-breaking five made it back inside the allotted 60 hours last year, including the first-ever female finisher in Jasmin Paris.
And in terms of first lap success rate in those two years, no less than 30 continued in 2023 and then 20 last year. But this time only 10 had the opportunity to – though it looks like nine began loop two.
‘Old school Barkley’
There had been huge speculation before the 2025 renewal, which started at 11:37 local time on Tuesday, as to how maverick race creator Laz Lake would respond.
And given almost ideal weather conditions for the first loop, it was already revealing that the first runners to reach the Fire Tower were already over an hour down on pace from 12 months ago.
Keith Dunn, the race’s sole source of official information, provided the updates and it soon became obvious that many were struggling badly.
Just to give you a flavour: “Four drops so far and we know more are coming. The thing is, they are coming back to camp from all directions and in some cases cannot describe where they were. This is old school Barkley.
“We’ve just had three more drops coming in from different directions. Laz, to runner: You’re coming in from the wrong direction! Runner: I left my sense of humor behind.
“Two runners have come back after wandering around Stallion Mountain and a few other places before coming back. ‘I got the full Barkley experience of being navigationally embarrassed.’ ‘We saw quite a bit!'”
Names were thin on the ground but numbers weren’t and when the clock went past the 12-hour cut-off, 14 runners had been ‘tapped out’ while 16 remained on the first lap and would be timed out when they returned to the camp.
So what on earth happened given it was dry, sunny and light for the first eight hours or so?
There was one big clue from Keith and that was: “Seems a few people this year had ‘follow a veteran’ as their navigation plan. It didn’t work out for them. Laz was unimpressed and described that mindset in strong words.”
And on-site journalist Jared Beasley also described just how extreme the elevation was right at the start, saying on X: “Up 1,500 feet and down 1,800 to book one. Big punches early.”
How to follow live
All of which left 10 (or nine!) to battle on but as is normal with the Barkley – and part of the charm – details are still very sketchy.
The quickest first-lap times in the last couple of years were well under nine hours but not this time.
The first two runners came in together at 9:44:55 and 9:44:57, with Dunn saying one of them described the course as “on the verge of perfection; there is no margin for error.”
We also know the third runner finished loop one in 10:20:41, followed by fourth and fifth both at 10:57 and the sixth at 11:34, with Keith pointing out: “11:34 upside down is hell”!
Names are very thin in the ground – Japan’s Tomokazu Ihara looks to be one of the 10 still going and it would be a major surprise if John Kelly, as a three-time Barkley finisher isn’t among the select group.
Here’s who we know so far is taking part this year and this is the latest weather forecast, which looks set to take a downward turn just to make things even more difficult.
And here’s our race hub to help you follow everything unfold.
