Yesterday at 10:37am local time, Gary “Lazarus Lake“ Cantrell lit a cigarette in Frozen Head State Park and with that acrid gesture, the 2025 Barkley Marathons began.
As always, the obscure race has been shrouded in mystery, with the only signs that it might be looming a sudden uptick in camping reservations at the Tennessee park and more trail running activity in the area, their Altra shoes and hydration packs revealing their secretive intentions.
We are now 22 hours into the 100-mile race, which takes runners around five 20-mile loops, with only the enigmatic tweets of Keith Dunn to keep us updated. So what do we know so far?
First off, after Jasmin Paris made history in 2024 by becoming the first woman to complete the course – something founder Laz said would never happen – the course has reportedly been made harder than ever.
As for who is running, that again is being kept under wraps although the word on the trail is that John Kelly is vying for his fourth finish, which would tie him with Jared Campbell. This year saw the race's first Zambian runner starting, but sadly as Dunn says, the course won and they have dropped.
A higher number of runners than usual are reportedly getting lost on the overgrown and poorly marked trail, probably owing to the fact that they're not allowed to use their GPS watches, or any GPS navigation at all for that matter.
"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," says Dunn, later reporting that "a runner may be running down Hwy 62."
Just 10 runners out of a typical registration of 35 to 40 completed the first loop within the 12-hour cutoff and continued on to loop two, including one "nondescript guy with a cool accent." Now, just six runners remain in the race, with Julien Chable, Chris Fisher and Thomas Calmettes all dropping out within the last hour.
Will anyone finish this year? You never can tell, but if not, it certainly wouldn't be the first time. Advnture will be keeping you updated on the race as it progresses or indeed devolves into utter chaos.
