Barkley Marathons mastermind Lazarus Lake reaches another MILESTONE on his own EPIC test of endurance

Lazarus Lake has now covered more than 780 miles as the Barkley Marathons mastermind is now shuffling along the busy, dusty roads of Indiana in his ambitious challenge to walk across the United States.

It has been some 47 days since Lake left Delaware on April 1 and is now just beyond Brownstone, Indiana as he continues his epic personal test of endurance.

Traffic, rain and limestone

A few days ago Laz had his shortest walking day yet. The radar showed a major rain storm was coming, so he and his team made the decision to get off the busy road once the heavens opened.

“A major highway with what was going to be a limited shoulder – not a place to be when the drivers can’t see you,” he shared in a recent diary entry on Facebook. He managed almost 6 miles.

The following day, the unstoppable Lake was back on the move, his day improved by the glimmer of the iconic Limestone belt he could see in the distance – he’d been searching for it for three days.

All these years I have advised athletes to play every game as if it was their last.

‘We are never promised tomorrow’. This game I know it is my last. There is no tomorrow.

Lazarus Lake

Latest Laz diary updates

May 17 2024

“The story of today’s run really began between 340 and 335 million years ago,
during the middle pennsylvanian period.
we can make guesses and construct hypotheses
but i don’t think we really know exactly why that during this period
in this place
some of the purest (97% calcium carbonate) limestone in the world was created.
or at least the deposits that would one day become the world’s purest limestone would form.
over the intervening eons
as the north american continent floated around playing bumper cars with the other continents
this layer of pure limestone was covered over with other layers of stone
and then raised above sea level to form a pre-glacial landscape…

then, about 700,000 years ago glaciers came across from michigan.
it would come to be known as indiana limestone.

May 16, 2024

Going out to the start this morning it was hard to get fired up.
ahead of me waited another 10 hours on the road.
the cell that had brought cold rain down from lake michigan yesterday had moved past us during the night
we were supposed to get the tail end of it this morning
and then transition to nice weather for the afternoon.

Heading out into the predawn fog the old machine was just not fired up.
it is better that my body believes it is condemned to 10 hours a day on the road every day
nothing good comes from it thinking there is another option!

But I think we all know what to do when you aren’t feeling it.
just take steps.
one step,
then another.
every step another couple of feet to the west.
put the legs on autopilot and tell them to go.
west, west, always west.
away from one ocean
and toward another.
don’t think about how long it has been
don’t think about how long it is going to be.
don’t think about whether you can make it or not.
just keep adding steps.
win today…

May 14, 2024

Every day is not the same.
some days are just hard.
i think a pattern has been developing.
there are 3 “strong” days where i feel pretty good
followed by a “hard” day where it seems like i fight for everything i get…

Today was one of the hard days.
the bright side is that generally the mileage stays pretty close
good day or bad
i know what i have to do
and i do it.

May 13, 2024

42 days in the bank.
the good news is that the last 12 days have been the best 12 day stretch of the trek.
the bad news is that i have only taken 750 miles off the map.
now, the gps says i have walked 888 miles during those 42 days.
part of the difference is taking better roads that were longer.
i passed through nebraska and butterville
before finally taking on the long haul into north vernon.

for once it did not seem that my desired destination took forever to reach.
i got to the turn in downtown north vernon just before time ran out.
my legs were pretty well done for the day
but i cant wait to pick it up again tomorrow.

word is i will probably be hitting the limestone belt tomorrow.
i remember what a bear it was last time
but i am on fire to get there….

more geology!!!

i am loving it here in indiana.