Barkley Marathons Documentary now on Netflix

awesome!  thanks for the heads up…i’ve been wanting to see that but have balked at “renting” it – I’m a bit of a cheapskate I guess….

Thanks Art! That was a great watch. The Barkley is only about 30 min from my house. I need to get over there and watch a little of it one of these times. Also, nice to know I was pronouncing Brett Maune’s last name incorrectly the last couple years.

Ryan

Definitely a fun one: thanks!  I got a pretty good chuckle from the fact that Laz’s method of “officially” starting the race was — to light a cigarette!!!!  What?!? ;^)

Also noticed that “Cave Dog” was one of the earlier finishers of the race, which makes sense because it’s just his type of partially-supported sufferfest!

Having followed Laz and the Barkley for a few years now…the documentary does a great job “bringing to life” both. Thanks for the pointer!

But I’m puzzled and I have a question….so what is a “Bazaar event”?

Inquiring minds want to know….

okay …. you caught me not using my spell checker while rushing thru writing my OP. meant to say bizarre. but come to think about it, bazaar could fit, if you use it in the loose sense …..

Jared Campbell appears about to become the first 3 time finisher!

Only one finisher this year – Jared Campbell. Made the cutoff by 28 minutes. Incredible stuff. Also of note, I didn’t know Heather “Anish” Anderson had attempted a Barkley 3 years in a row.  Never completed more than one loop. That really helps put in perspective how tough this thing is.

Ryan

Just watched this yesterday for the first time – very well done and very inspiring. Almost makes me want to find out how to apply…almost.

60k feet of gain and 130 miles, much of it off trail in steep terrain with brambles etc, in under 60 hours…sounds ridiculously brutal. Anyone who finishes is by definition elite, not to mention stubborn as hell.

For reference the JMT has about 38k feet of gain over 221 miles on well graded, maintained trail.

A good read at Wikipedia.

a Trailer: The Race That Eats Its Young

Great movie!  It’s very interesting to learn that Anish, an unsupported AT record holder, struggled to complete more than one lap of Barkley.  The former being something I would aspire to do, the latter not so much.  Bushwacking 130 miles in 60 hours straight is god-like, but watching them run through the terrain in the movie, I did wonder if you’d be better of just fast hiking it, rather than trying to run it, and pulling on some wind pants through the brambles!

There’s about 25% of the course that you can go faster than a hike.

If you “just hike”, there is no possible way you can make the laps in under 12 hours. That 25% is fairly tame. It means half the downhills are the 25% that you can move quickly through.

The sheer steepness of the other 25% is crazy steep.

So basically, you can’t just hike. You have to move a little quicker when you can.

My first lap was a 10:45?  Not really fast but it wasn’t a pace I could have held through 3 laps in order to finish the fun run in under 36 hours. 40 hours maybe. I just had 2 huge blisters on my right front and back pad where all 3 layers separated and filled with fluid.

Walked the last 3rd of lap 2 on the outside of my foot, (but in time).

I would rather give my spot up than to go back knowing it will happen again. My feet can’t take that punishment.

3 laps would have been easy enough, but that’s not what it’s about for me. It’s a 5 lap race.

I failed.

Finishers do 30,000+ feet of gain per week in the months leading up to Barkley.

aaron, did you attempt this year??!!

great watch; so few finishers over the many years- very impressive!!

Just in case people don’t have Netflix, like I do, you can rent it on Amazon for 99 cents. :)

Just in case people don’t have Netflix, like I do, you can rent it on Amazon for 99 cents. :)

Only from the US Amazon.

But you can also rent or buy straight from the website of the original creators.

barkleymovie.com

While it’s a bit more expensive,(still less than that Starbucks), I like that you can support them directly.

(I bought the doc that way when it originally came out).

I saw this pop up on Netflix recently and had been meaning to look into it more. Now it’s at the top of my list! Thanks.