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[BBC Radio Announcer]
You're listening to
NewsHour from the BBC.

Coming up in the program,
we're going to be talking

to the founder of an
endurance race so tough,

hardly anyone has
ever finished it.

[Lazarus Lake] You always
have to keep people

a little off guard.

[Man] The first rule of
Barkley is don't talk about it.

If you talk about it,

then you're not going
to be part of it.

[BBC Radio Announcer]
So it's kind of secret?

[Laz] It kind of
weeds itself out.

If you belong here, you would
find out how to get here.

This is about you
by yourself against

all that out there.

(clock ticking)

(acoustic music)

[Interviewer] So
Laz, what is this?

This is my big map of Tennessee.

Where I have marked down most
of the roads I've run on,

and I'm trying to think
right now where my marker is

so I can mark in
some that I've done

that I haven't put on there yet.

All the orange roads I've
run, I remember them all.

Lots of hours went into this.

Lots of damn fun.

Yeah, I'd be curious to
know in continuous time,

how many hours of
running are in that map.

[David Horton] That guy
is smarter than a whip,
smarter than dickens.

He looks like an old hillbilly
redneck, acts like one.

[Paul Melzer] You know,
people like to think
of him as this sadist

for creating this race but,

that's not him at all.

I mean neither is he.

Neither is he

a bleeding heart.

There is nothing less
pleasant to clean

than a rattlesnake.

[Stuart Gleman] I don't really
even like the man very much,

but I love him.

Does this make any sense?

You know he was one of
the original ultrarunners.

He was one of the original ones.

[Interviewer] And what
are the Memphis Runners?

It was just the first
running club in Memphis.

What does that say '78?

[Interviewer] Space
Coast Marathon.

Yeah, '78.

Ah, that was a brutal race.

Yeah. [laughs]

I used to wear shirts that size.

Those were the days.

I could run!

I could run fast.

It didn't seem like
I was very fast then,

but I feel it would
be really fast now,

if I could run the
times I ran then.

So those are hidden away,

Sandra doesn't know
I still have them.

[Interviewer] Is your
fuel gauge broken there?

[Laz] No.

[Interviewer] Oh okay.

We're just on empty?

[Laz] No, E means excellent.

F means you're fucked.

It's on E we're in
excellent shape,

we have plenty of gas.

Why, how does yours work?

Backwards?

(acoustic music)

Lazarus, Lazarus Lake,

in the white shirt and
the cigarette over there,

the guy that hung up
all the license plates,

he's a dangerous man.

He and Raw Dog are the guys
that invented this race.

They made this race out of
nothing, out of thin air.

[Interviewer] Who is the
mastermind behind the Barkley?

Oh, Raw Dog.

[Raw Dog] I have suggestions
to make it easier,

but the harder I protest,
the more that eggs him on.

[Interviewer] He
swears that it's you.

Which kind of leaves
me obligated to
swear that it's him.

(acoustic music)

[Interviewer] Would you
say the application process

is a secret?

Uh, it's not a very good secret

because hundreds of damn
people are figuring it out.

[Luis Escobar] It's like
a series of complicated

ninja moves to get in.

[Jared Campbell] Part of the
application involves an exam.

I've never had to take an exam
to get into a race before.

If you're selected, you
get a letter of condolences,

Sorry to inform you,

you've been accepted
to run the Barkley.

I guess I should get
the map and some numbers

and stuff out now and,

start getting people
signed in, see who's here.

Still Julian Jamison?

[Julian Jamison] Still the same.

You're going to finish 19th.

Okay, do I even have to start?

(people laughing)

And we now count
you as starting.

And 29.

And at this point

we are counting
you as a starter.

[Brett Maune] I'm Brett Maune.

I'm a physicist by training.

I do research in
semiconductor devices.

I finished the
Barkley last year.

I was the 10th finisher.

I feel like I have some
unfinished business

with not getting the record.

The main goal is
to try and break

Flyin' Brian Robinson's
record of 55 hours,

42 minutes, and 27 or 37
seconds, I'm not sure.

So that's basically the goal.

I mean, then second to
that just finishing,

then I'd be the only
two-time finisher.

[Marco Cych] For
the entrance fee.

Oh, okay, great.

Application fee.

I'm getting rich here.

We don't give anyone change.

No.

Well, a lot of people
think it's $1.60

to enter the race, but
that's really not accurate.

We charge $1.60 just to apply,

and we don't give the
$1.60 back, we keep it.

And that's my retirement plan.

If you get accepted
into the race,

then the first year
when you're a virgin,

the first time you come,
you have to give us

a license plate from your
home state or home country.

[Naresh Kumar] There ya go.

[Beverley Anderson-Abbs]
You know, it was
hard to get this off

the state trooper vehicle
without just, sort of,

torching it so I
cut off the top.

(Laz laughing)

[Man] Something from France.

[Laz] Something from France
and we can tell this time.

[Man] Why? Because
it says France?

And then in succeeding
years, there's various things

really kind of according to

what it is I need.

For years we charged
a white shirt.

Now I have a lot
of white shirts.

So we charged socks until
I had lots of socks.

Now we're charging
a flannel shirt,

'til I get flannel shirts.

This is your shirt.

All right.

That one will be special
because it's a German shirt.

Yeah, I had to translate
the sizes. (Laz laughing)

[Laz] Oh yeah,

in centimeters I would have
had a really tiny shirt.

[Laz] It's a pretty
low budget production.

For anyone, regardless of
their economic situation,

if they want to see that
kind of a challenge;

it can be a poor college
student, can afford to do it.

[John Fegyveresi]
All right, John.

John Fegys.

Yeah, Fegy, that's me.

I'm John Fegyveresi,
I'm from Pennsylvania.

I'm sort of just a poor,

stipend-funded grad
student right now

and this is a great
event for that

because it only
costs $1.60 to do so.

This is my first time here.

I study glaciology
and climate change,

paleo-climate actually.

Currently, I'm working
on a project where

we're looking at an ice
core from Antarctica.

[Laz] Ah no, we like
the Antarctica plate.

[John] All right. There you go.

[Laz] That will add
a certain spice.

Numbers!

You like numbers right?

[John] Sure, yeah.

[Laz] Scientists and numbers,
they almost go together.

This is the ugly
truth and we now

are counting on you starting.

[John] All right, here we go.

Thank you, sir.

[Laz] You are officially
in the starting field.

[John] Fantastic.

It's hard to put a finger on it.

I don't remember exactly
what it is I searched for.

Somebody may have
said something,

Oh, you think that's hard,

you should look at this race
they have down in Tennessee.

And I just started
reading the race reports

and it just was so
fascinating to me.

I was like, this is
what I gotta try.

Basically, for the last six
months I've done nothing

but eat, sleep, and
breathe this event.

I think people have
often said that

you could charge a huge fee

and people would
pay it and come.

But I don't think you
would get the same

collection of people.

You like to have people
that will enjoy the race

and people that will
enjoy each other.

And, plus, for a $1.60
and a license plate,

if people have complaints,

I can just laugh.

[Laz] You are
officially starting.

[Rob] Oh my goodness.

I've got your shirt.

Excellent.

Have you made a fun run?

No.

I didn't think so.

It's my year.

[Laz] You're a really good
runner not to have a fun run.

(people laughing)

Do you have the map?

Course map?

The master map is
around somewhere.

[Man] Here.

On Friday, we put
out one master map

and the people have
to mark their own map.

If they don't exactly
match the master map,

that's their own problem.

But it forces them to
have some familiarity

with what the layout
of the course is

and find out a lot of
things that it would be

a lot less convenient

to recognize that you
have this question

when you're eight
hours into the race.

Whenever you get
to the first trail

just start following it
and if it switchbacks down

you went the wrong way.

I thought it was right there?

- It is.
- It's not!

They got rid of that,

and now they're going...

I think the instructions
last were basically,

Keep on following
the ridge up and

climb to the highest point.

When it hurts more,
you're on the right path.

Or something like that.

To your right.

45 to your right.

(Wouter speaking French)

If you hit the big
rock, it's on this side.

If you hit the trail,
it's on that side.

Okay.

Jeep road, you go across,

and you go right?

No no, the
jeep road you go left.

You'll want the
instructions, the course map,

you'll know where all
the sweet new stuff is.

[Nick Hollon] Cool.

You're going to
like the new hill.

It's a source of
endless speculation,

decoding what Laz says.

There's this tree
that's got three trunks,

and there's this other tree
that's got four trunks,

and they're right
next to each other.

To him, that's like,

he really knows the area
and that means a lot.

As if that would
be helpful to me,

a tree with three trunks
when they're in a forest!

[Joel Gat] So his
instructions require you

to know the history
of his instructions.

I don't know
everyone who's in it.

I would be most worried
about Jared Campbell.

He was a past winner of the
Hardrock 100 in Colorado.

So he's clearly in
pretty good shape.

So he would be my top concern.

However, he's a
virgin at the Barkley,

which gives him an
enormous disadvantage.

Ya know.

Which will definitely be
relevant on Loop five,

if it gets to that point.

So, we'll see.

Hopefully he's running,
I haven't seen him yet.

[Laz] You're seated
47th out of 35.

Fabulous.

I like to start at
the back of the pack.

I'm Jared Campbell.

I'm from Salt Lake City, Utah.

I'm an engineer,
mechanical engineer.

[Interviewer] Have you
ever been up here before,

to Frozen Head?

Never have.

Just drove in about
five to ten minutes ago.

So yeah, this is all
new to me at this point.

There's a great
website out there

with tons of information on it.

I'm totally kidding.

There's no information
online at all,

so it really helps
to know somebody.

I think my intent is
to really go out and

pair up with someone
who knows the course

for at least a lap or two.

Try to get it figured
out and go from there.

The virgins tend to want
to stick with a veteran

for the confidence in
knowing where they are

because they're seeing it
all for the first time.

But if you don't have a
certain number of veterans,

you just have people
wandering around

out in the woods all day.

I am Wouter Hamelinck
from Belgium.

I took my bike with
me, a folding bike,

that I had in my luggage.

And from Knoxville airport, I
was cycling over to the park.

I am here to run the
Barkley and well,

I try to get as far as I can.

And as we know, that
might be not so far,

but okay we try to
make the best of it.

[Interviewer] Is it
well known in Europe?

I think it ranks among
the best known races,

US races, in Europe.

I've been here two years ago,

and then it was a
rather total disaster

so I try to do better than that.

[Interviewer] How did
you do two years ago?

Just one loop.

[Interviewer] Do you
have any goals this year?

Well you should at
least hope for five loops.

If you don't hope it,
you shouldn't start.

But I will be disappointed
if I don't get a Fun Run.

(acoustic music)

As you probably know,
the course adds up to...

Each loop is 20.00 miles.

And every time the
course changes,

somehow it's still 20.00 miles,

even if he's directly
added something.

Maybe it's both.

Maybe it's exactly 20 miles
and maybe it's a bit more.

That's probably about
as true as you can get.

Part of the whole adventure is

having a little uncertainty,

having to use your
route-finding skills.

We do it twice clockwise,
a daytime loop clockwise

and a nighttime loop clockwise,

and then a daytime
loop counterclockwise

and a nighttime loop
counterclockwise.

On the fifth loop we send them
out in opposite directions.

The first guy who
leaves on the fifth loop

can go either way he wants,
clockwise or counterclockwise,

but the next person has to
go the opposite direction.

Every loop you're doing
is going to be unique

because of the time of
the day and the direction.

I just hope to slog it
out and get to the end.

Really, that's my
whole objective.

I think I'd be thrilled
if I could finish 5 laps,

so that's it.

Try to have the best
time that I can out there

but I'm not going into this
thinking it's going to be fun,

to be honest.

If you're going to quit and
you know you're going to quit,

quit somewhere where
there's a trail by it.

If you're going to
quit, quit early.

No don't quit early,
or don't quit at all

because you gotta do five.

But if you're out
here, you're...

It took us, I think, four
hours just to get back.

That's after you quit.

Damn.

[James Adams] I just don't want
to get so lost that it becomes,

like, embarrassing that I end up

having to get airlifted
out or something.

And yeah, become one of those
stories of miserable failures.

I just want to be a regular
failure like everyone else.

Well you know the
record for futility

is poor Dan Baglione who

covered two official
miles on the course and

was out there for 32 hours.

[Dan Baglione] So I now
hold the record for the

slowest absolute
pace ever at Barkley;

16 hours per mile.

[Interviewer] Are you
excited, are you nervous?

How do you feel right now?

Not yet.

I can't be nervous
until tomorrow morning.

[Interviewer] How do
you know it's not going

to start tonight?

Could be.

Yeah, so one of the
beloved features

is wondering when it'll start.

We actually only
narrow the start down

to about a 12-hour period
between midnight and noon,

on Saturday of race weekend.

And at the time

that me and Raw Dog
picked out a year earlier,

we blow a conch
shell and that means

the runners have one
hour until they start.

From trying to figure out
how to enter the race,

to actually finally
toeing the starting line

and going out in the woods,

there's all kinds
of little things

that you just have to deal with.

And I've found, over the years,

people who have trouble
with any of those things

are not going to do
well out on the course

because it's not going to
be the way you planned it.

(serene instrumental music)

It was nice weather
for the snake.

[Wouter] What time is this?

(conch shell bellowing)

[Bev] There we go.

Okay.

Game on.

One hour to go.

[Tim Hardy] There it is.

Time to get ready.

[Interviewer] How you feeling?

A lot better now since
the conch blew, man.

Yeah, I was

sort of stressing all night
because I was here last year

and had the middle
of the night start,

so you're sort of
anticipating that again.

You keep waiting for the
conch to blow all night long.

Didn't sleep too well.

(speaking in French)

It's been nerve
wracking just sitting here

so I'm happy to have heard
the noise and the conch shell,

and get ready to go.

I slept miserably
from, I think, about

10 to 7 so...

Miserable, but you never
really get good sleep

before a race so, whatever.

I put my shirt on backwards,
that 's not a good start.

[John] I think you
kind of have to come

at least hoping to finish.

I mean, especially when I
think about all that training.

I have to at least
believe that I could do it

so that's about as
best as I could say.

I know the odds are
super against me

and who knows?

But, I have to at
least say that...

60 hours, right? 60 hours.

(instrumental music
with clock ticking)

I've never gone quite that
long without sleep on an event.

The longest I've ever
gone is about 48 hours so

this will be in uncharted
territory for me as well.

(instrumental music)

With the Barkley,

since it's so steep

there's a lot of pressure
both on the front

and the bottom of the heel.

[Interviewer] Does
everyone do this?

I don't see how you could
get by without doing it

because you're definitely
going to get blisters

on your heel

and after a while, that's just
going to become debilitating.

I don't think these
are even the socks

I was intending to wear
but they're on now so...

[DeWayne Satterfield]
About ready?

[Naresh} Yeah.

You got plenty, you got
more than that or is that it?

I got one more bottle
and 100 ounce water.

Oh, okay cool.

Yeah, you're good to go.

I've got the Camelback, yeah.

You got your map?

Uh huh, yeah.

All right.

[Brett] one,
two, three, four, five.

[Hareem Maune] Wow, Aidan
do you have socks like that?

This is my favorite
day of the year.

I love this event.

[Interviewer] How many
times have you run it?

This will be my 16th.

(acoustic music)

[Man] The most
important thing is

how did you sleep last night?

Four minutes!

Oh, I slept like a baby.

[Man] Nice.

Because that's what's important.

That's what's important.

I knew when it would start.

[Man] Don't be shy, step on up!

Step right up!

Carl, behind the gate.

(people laughing)

(acoustic music)

Good luck, buddy.

All right, we've got
about a minute to go.

This would be the part of
the race where they give you

lots of good advice.

If y'all would take good
advice, you wouldn't be here.

(people laughing)

So in about 50 seconds, we're
going to light a cigarette.

Like all great races
in traditional history,

we light a cigarette and
that means they're off.

[Interviewer] Can they
jump over the yellow gate?

They are perfectly free to
jump over the yellow gate.

That might save them a couple
hundredths of a second there.

[Laz] Do it the right way.

Around, over, under or through.

If you're going to
face a real challenge

it has to be a real challenge.

You can't accomplish anything

without the
possibility of failure.

Pretty much everybody
you see go out there,

you really want them to succeed.

You know that most of them won't

and there is kind of

maybe a dark humor to all
the things that go on.

Some of the failures are
spectacular and really funny.

But you like to see people have

the opportunity
to really find out

that something about themselves.

(Instrumental Music)

(people cheering and clapping)

Good luck Stu.

[Interviewer] How
did the Barkley start

or where did you get the idea?

The James Earl Ray escape.

Word that he had gotten
out of the prison

into this area and we
were familiar with it

because we'd hiked up
here for some years.

And because when trail running
started to become popular,

and we thought it was amazing
that people were running

astounding times on trails.

We didn't really have
a picture in our mind

of what kind of trails
they were running.

We thought of trails like this.

We had pretty well said,

man, this would be such a...

I guess the only term, it would
be a ballbuster of a race.

(banjo and percussion music)

The Barkley course is

about one third on-trail,

and that's the formal
trail in the park,

and two thirds or
more off-trail,

keeping in mind

every year the course is
going to change a little bit.

The off-trail sections
are not marked.

[Interviewer] Is
anything marked?

No, no, there's no marks.

Nothing is marked.

You get a map, a compass.

Can't use GPS.

And this year, due
to popular demand,

they don't get to
use altimeters.

Whatever you can
carry on your back

and you're on your own.

We do try on most
years to put out

a couple of water
drops along the way

for people who are reluctant
to drink out of the creek.

[ Danger Dave] Do you think
one year he'd let us fill

one jug with moonshine?

Frozen Head is a place that

creates its own weather.

[Laz] Howling winds and
hail, sleet, snow, ice

and this time, in the
spring in Tennessee,

you can get, especially at
Frozen Head, almost anything.

Both of the water
drops are at elevation

so there are years when
what we have out there

for the runners are
100 8-pound blocks of ice.

They come back and say, The
water is all frozen solid.

Yeah, it's 10 degrees.

What did you think would happen?

(suspenseful music)

[Joel] Pillars of Doom.

Woo! That's slippery.

Watch out if you launch off.

[Tim Dines] There's
nothing in the military
I did that was this hard.

I used to be in Special
Operations for about four years

and I've done some of the
hardest things you can do

and so I tell people

you might want to rethink this

'cuz I'm telling
you, it's no joke.

I truly think it's the
world's toughest trail race.

You know the real
attraction of it is that

every year there are
some really good people

that come to do it and

most years, nobody finishes it.

Barkley's out there on
the edge of possibility,

impossibility.

There's no other event that
I know of in this world

that is as hard.

When you talk about
being the hardest,

there's really not
such a measurement

because you have races
that are in extreme heat,

races that are at
extreme altitude.

So we never really
thought of it that

this will the hardest race,

but we felt like you would
put something out there

that was right at the limit
of what people could do.

One of the big motivators
in running ultras

is that people want to
challenge their limitations.

They want to see how
much they can do.

And you can't really
tell how much you can do

until you try to do
something that's more.

[Joel] Whatcha got?

All right you're next,
go ahead Michiel.

[Frozen Ed] Bye!

Uh oh, go fast, go fast.

Here ya go.

I'm going to start following Ed.

The first couple of years,
runners had a hard time

staying on course and so I said,

Well, why don't you
put a book out there

and have each runner
tear out a page

to prove that they
got to that book?

[Alan Abbs] And the race number
that you have corresponds to

a page in the books that
you're supposed to tear out

to show that you've been
through the whole course.

And so if you get
race number 35,

that means every time
you come to a book,

you have to pull out
page 35 of that book.

They're unofficial checkpoints.

They give us the assurance
that people did the course.

They give the other runners
the assurance because

some people will have
a tendency to think

maybe someone else is cheating

and not doing the right thing.

And some of the people
can't find their way around

and will come back and
believe in their heart

they did the loop when,
who knows where they went?

The titles are fun.

They'll be things
like The Valley of Death

or Almost Home,

things which you would
look at that book and,

knowing where you
are on the course

you would think to yourself,

Ah, he's just
messing with us now.

[Joel] This is The
Idiot , is the name of the book.

There is no live web update,

there's no chip-timing
here, there's books.

There's books that
we find in the woods.

How old school is that?

This year we had 11 books.

Ahhh! I found it!

(upbeat instrumental music)

All of the places out
there have their own names.

It just kind of
developed over the years.

And it's really kind of handy

because they're not
on the park maps.

So the people who wanted
to come out here and

wander into the areas
where people are really

not supposed to be,

don't have a map
reference to find them.

It's a unique hill.

It's the only one where
you can see the whole hill.

And when we came around
the corner, he said,

which is apparently
an old saying...

Let's see, my spectacles,
testicles, wallet and cigars.

And I just heard him
say testicle spectacle

and thought...

I just had this vision of
the people coming around.

It's kind of a test of manhood

(breathes in)

So it became the
Testicle Spectacle

with an entirely
different meaning.

(dramatic music)

(upbeat instrumental music)

That's fucked up.

[Laz] Over the years, when
you drew the course map

it looked exactly like
the head of a rat,

with an open mouth.

So they started
calling it the Rat Jaw

and then it kind of stuck.

And because it has
all the briars,

or has some of the
worst briars most years,

that's where people
get the most rat bites.

They started calling their
briar scratches rat bites.

That's a saw briar.

Out in the woods, you
come on some of them

they're 20 to 30 feet
tall, have a stem that big

and thorns about that long.

[Joel] Coming down Rat Jaw,

these briars are everywhere.

Ahhh!

The country people
had a name for them,

they were called wait-a-minutes

because you step
into it with your leg

and a piece pulls down from
the back and snags your ear.

[Joel] Help me.

Ahhhh!

[Man] On your face?

[Joel] In my ear. Got it.

And then when the
runners get tired,

they just put their arms in
front of their face and go.

(instrumental music)

[Man] Hey Laz, who's
this year's Human Sacrifice?

Tim Hardy.

And Tim is in way over his head.

Tim Hardy is really good
and done a lot of good stuff

but he's kind of
playing it by ear

and, yeah, he's dead.

Every year, the
runners seem to like,

even at the risk of
losing one chance

at getting a slot themselves,

that one person gets entered

who has absolutely no
business out there.

[Tim] Thanks.

[Man] How did he get number one?

Is he the top seed?

[Laz] He is the top seed.

[Tim] Yeah, I'm the
top seed, all right.

[Laz] We expect him
to be back first.

You just wade through all
of the available information

and you find that person,

that poor unfortunate soul,

who's gonna be in way over
his head. (Laz laughing)

It was going to take
me at least three hours

to get up to book seven
and I was out of water.

(mumbles)undertrained
for this one.

Just kinda hard to...

[Interviewer] Just
hard over all?

Yeah.

This is the hardest
course I've ever been on.

[Alyssa Wildeboer] Tim.

[Tim] Yeah.

[Alyssa] Where'd you make it to?

[Tim] Not very far.

[Alyssa] Not very far?

[Tim] Get your bugle out.

Okay, the first one all year,
it might be a little rusty.

[Tim] That's alright, you
gotta start somewhere.

[Laz] We play Taps

to commemorate

that they came up
short of the mark.

(Taps playing on bugle)

I learned how to play
the bugle in scouts.

And when Gary found out
I could play the bugle,

this was probably 15 years ago,

he suggested that
I should play taps

every time someone quits

or is timed out or
does not continue.

They get tapped.

I guess it's a way of

(people laughing)

the final punishment, I guess.

Let's the whole camp
know that somebody quit.

(Taps on bugle finishes)

[Man] Good job.
Welcome back

Way to go guys.

[Laz] All right, all
the way touch the gate.

7:41:07 and :06.

Good times out there.

[Laz] Isn't that sweet?

Oh, it's a little slice
of heaven you got out there.

Bev and Alan are
probably going to be

about 10 minutes behind us.

This may be the best
you're going to see me, so.

7:44:28 and :30.

[Laz] So how did you like it?

Was it about what
you were expecting?

[Bev] Oh, it was fabulous.

When you get back
to the yellow gate,

it's the interloopal period.

It's only that interim period,

interloopal,

that you're allowed to get aid.

[Laz] You are free
to go to the campsite,

replenish your stocks.

You can sleep if you
think you have time.

[Paul] If you're continuing
on, the clock never stops.

The clock doesn't stop
until the runner stops.

When you're in camp,

there's a tremendous
temptation to not go back out.

You don't want to have
that debate in your mind.

You just silence the debate
before you even start running.

[Jared] I had some good guides.

I'd be still looking for
Book one if I didn't have

Brett and the Abbs.

I'm ready, yeah sure.

All right, thanks y'all.

[Woman] Good luck.

Have fun.

Okay, will do.

See ya.

Thanks Matt, for your
help, by the way.

[Laz] Boy that pace
is pretty impressive.

[Laz] All right, Wouter!

- 11 pages.
- [Laz] Touch the gate.

8:23:16.

[Laz] Do you want to make sure
of your count before you go?

[Wouter] You can count them.

[Laz] Well, yeah.

45.

57.

[Man] Good job.

one, two, three.

[Laz] 9:07:24 and 25.

If you don't have
the right amount,

you may wish you had.

My heart rate monitor says
I burned 7,000 calories.

I only ate about three.

You didn't even make
it to the prison?

No.

[Laz] You just don't know
what you missed, anyway.

(helicopter noise)

(acoustic music)

[Joel] We're supposed
to go to the Northeast

corner of the prison
and there's a stream

coming out of a tunnel
underneath the prison.

And we're going
to crawl into that

and crawl under the prison.

That's the instructions.

And it's an active
prison, apparently,

so there are guards here.

Well, this is an interesting
Barkley tradition.

We are walking under the prison.

(suspenseful music)

Eight years have passed
since James Earl Ray

began serving a
99-year prison sentence

for the assassination
of Dr. King.

His escape was big
news when it happened,

at least in Tennessee.

And I think most
everywhere in the country,

that it was big news.

He was a famous bad guy

and then he'd got out of
this inescapable prison.

Police with bloodhounds
on the ground,

helicopters with infrared
detection devices in the air,

all of them scouring a
five square-mile area

in the rugged
Tennessee hill country

around the maximum-security
Brushy Mountain Prison

near Petros, Tennessee.

The object of their manhunt:

six convicts including
James Earl Ray.

I'm Stonney Ray Lane.

I was Warden of Brushy
Mountain Penitentiary

from the years 1976 to 1980.

We have an extensive
manhunt still going on

involving Brushy Mountain
Correctional Officers.

Ray and his two companions

went straight up the mountain.

[TV Reporter] At first, prison
officials were confident

they would apprehend James
Earl Ray within hours

not far from the prison.

But hours have now
turned into days,

and the search area has
expanded to distances

far from the prison.

For a while over the weekend,

James Earl Ray was at the top

of the FBI's Most-Wanted List

for the second time in his life,

then the hunt ended.

He was taken in
custody in the woods.

He had laid down, covered
himself up with leaves,

pulled leaves over him,

and the dog team walked up on
him and took him in custody.

He was worn out.

He had been out 54 hours.

[Reporter] How far away
from the prison is that?

We're talking about, what?

Eight miles?
[Man] Yeah.

Eight miles.

The old story, you
might beat Brushy

but you're not going to
beat those mountains.

And this concludes one
of the largest manhunts

in the history of Tennessee.

We talked about his
kind of pathetic attempt

and only going 8.5
miles in 54 hours.

And I said I thought I
could go 100 miles out here

in that length of time.

So that was sort of
the benchmark to see

if people couldn't go
100 miles out here and...

Some can but not many.

[Joel] We are on the
other side of the prison,

and the book.

I occasionally get angry mail,

angry emails and
letters from people

who believe that this is
some sort of a tribute

to James Earl Ray.

It's much more of the opposite.

[Man] There's a man
with a mission right there.

[Laz] You are now a free man.

Go out there and get it, man.

[Man 1] Get it man.

Looking real good.

[Man 2] Good job, looking good.

[Laz] 9:20:42.

[Travis Wildeboer] It's
warm out there, Laz.

It's supposed to be
a lot better tomorrow.

[Travis] Is it?

About 10 degrees warmer.

[Brett] One of the
previous finishers

thought that in a hot
year, no one could finish.

Given the forecast,
it will be the warmest

Barkley on record.

[Laz] To the gate in 9:29:52.

So you're perfectly
on your 9:30 pace.

And 9:47:42.

[Man] Good job, Rob.

You are looking good.

[Rob] A little warm
out there today.

[Man] You have finished
the Fun Run, haven't you?

No.

[Man] Okay, I
think you've got a chance.

Yeah, I'm going to try.

Oh, he's got it in the bag.

It's not even going
to be hard for him.

[Man] You've got a chance!

I've got a chance.

Go get it!

Are you ready to be on your own?

[Paul] I am.

You are now officially
in a new loop.

[Laz] You ready to be free?

You are into loop
two at 10:18:20.

Saturday night is always fun.

All night long you'll watch
them come down quitter's road

real slow.

[Woman] And they
come down this way?

Lots of 'em will.

[Laz] All right.

[DeWayne] I've gotta
have those numbers right.

So was it easier
than you thought?

[DeWayne] Oh yeah.

I'd say you still have a
chance to win this thing.

All right, that's
what I need to hear.

That's it.

All right, let's
go get some food.

[Laz] Where did you drop?

[Man] On his head,
it looks like.

[Terry Cash] Testicle.

I've gotta be the
first drop I'm sure.

[Man] Nope, second.

And we were actually
just commenting

on how few there were.

And there'll be more
to join you soon.

Yes.

[Laz] All right.

Virgin going out alone at night.

[Laz] Alone at night.

You do have a light?

[Man] You've got a jacket?

Yeah.

[Laz] 115 at 10:54:11,

go get 'em.

[Man] Go Ed.

[Laz] All right, Ed!

12:15:19!

Touch the gate.

[Man] Touch the gate, boom!

[James] James,
letting the Brits down

in their fine record.

(people laughing)

[Laz] You going back out?

No.

[Laz] You haven't lived until
you've done the night loop.

[David] Yeah,
night loop's real good.

I'm afraid I won't live

if I do a night loop.

[Laz] Are you sure?

I'm sure. I'm done.

[Laz] Because if you're done,

we have a man to
play a song for you.

Oh excellent.

[Laz] Are you sure?

I'm sure.

[Thomas Armbruster]
I've had all I can take.

I've had all I can handle.

I couldn't even
comprehend what it was.

I thought I had an
idea, but I had no clue.

[Joel] We are
coming to hear taps.

[Ed] My legs hurt so
much I feel stupid

for starting another loop,
but it's what I came here for.

[Laz] Go get 'em Ed!

(people cheering)

[Ed] Thank you!

[Man] You can do it!

[Elise Harrington]I'm goin' out.

[Woman] You're goin'
back out for loop two?

[Laz] There's a
runner going back out.

All right!

And you're number 127.

Okay.

[Laz] Tear 'em up,
we'll see you in about

9.5 hours.

[Laz] For some people,
to finish the Fun Run

is the accomplishment
of a lifetime.

And for some of them
to finish one loop

is the achievement
of a lifetime.

And for some people, just
to get back to camp alive

is all they want in the world.

[Laz] DeWayne!

You're not doing the
reverse loop are you?

Are you

tap-worthy?

How far did you get?

[DeWayne] Temple of Doom.

(people laughing)

[Man 1] Do you
feel as good as you look?

[DeWayne] The Pillars of Doom.

I laid on the trail waiting
for somebody but nobody came.

(people laughing)

[Man 2] You didn't
wait long enough.

Taps.

[Laz] You still
have time to go back out.

(Taps playing on bugle)
(people laughing)

[Laz] It's highly unlikely that
anyone will die out there

because we try to
make sure that people

know what they're doing
and you have some control

over the situation,
but they are going to

figuratively die because
they're going to fail.

They're going to get to the end.

They are people who
are used to succeeding.

We have such a high
number of people

that have graduate degrees
because they set goals,

they accomplish them,
they don't let anything

stand in their way.

And I think the race
appeals to them because

they could fail.

(instrumental music)

[Jared] This climb really
scrapes the hell out of you.

Yeah.

It's just razor-sharp down
there, you'd be amazed.

(birds chirping)

[Laz] All right.

You alright?

Time for taps.

Time for taps?

[Man 1] What?

[Man 2] Oh no!

You have 16 hours to
finish another loop.

You could get a little
rest, you might feel better.

Think how good it'll feel

when you finish that third loop.

[Man 1] You came a long way

for a 40-mile training run.

Are you absolutely positive?

[Man 1] Is that your final
answer? [Laz] Is Dave uh...

You are the luckiest
man this morning.

It's been ugly.

(Taps playing on bugle)

[Electronic Voice]
That was easy.

(crowd laughing)

(people clapping)

[Wouter] First loop was fine.

A bit fast, but okay.

But then the second
loop, my feet gave up.

My feet were totally wasted.

I'm disappointed.

I only got two loops.

In any given year,
there's probably

at least several people
who could finish.

But at the end of the day,

either due to some
run management issue,

like dehydration and
not eating properly

and frequently enough, or

due to mental
breakdown, essentially,

one of those reasons,
they end up not doing it.

But yeah, the mental
aspect is key.

[Laz] Magnificent effort, Byron.

[Byron] Taps please.

[Laz] There's a man who
never brings anything back,

leaves it all on the course.

I arrived at the yellow
gate and said, Taps please.

I'm done.

Barkley won, there's
nothing else I can do.

Sometimes, when
something defeats us,

we feel the need to
go back and prove

something to ourselves, I guess.

I don't feel that
way about this.

It was just, I gave
everything I had

and it wasn't enough,
and I'm okay with that.

[John] Still
on time to maybe do it so,

we'll see.

I haven't slept.

[Interviewer] Oh,
you haven't yet?

[John] No.

[Interviewer] Are you trying
to plan some time for sleep?

[John] Yeah, I'll see how I feel
when I get back to camp.

But my limit is
sort of 48 hours.

I get kind of weird after that.

I'm starting to mumble my words.

[Laz] Yep, I gotta change sides.

[Man] Oh yeah.

[Woman] And I know
what that's all about.

(crowd cheering and clapping)

Most of the people
that finish the Fun Run

kind of treat it as sort
of a lifetime achievement.

Really,

we didn't even say it was a
100-mile race for several years,

although that concept was there,

because people couldn't
even finish the Fun Run.

And once people started
finishing the Fun Runs,

then you say well,
you know the real deal

is to go 100 miles.

And the Americans just
had a fallback mentality

that the race was the Fun Run,

the 100 was impossible.

[Interviewer] Who
was the first one?

Mark Williams.

Came from England.

He was one of the
first foreign entries

when we started to suddenly
get people from overseas.

He finished it in 1995,

so it had been going
on for close to,

if not at, 10 years.

Once someone finished, you
knew it really could be done.

And then it was an
additional six years before

a second person finished it.

Each year that no one finished,

that appealed to a set
of people that liked to

be out there at the limit.

And then people would come

and they would be angry
when they got to the race

and ran it because it was
exactly like we said it was.

That loop really
took a lot out of

both Jared and I.

[Aidan Maune] Daddy!

[Hareem] Daddy,
can you say cheese?

[Brett] Cheeeeese.

[Hareem] Do you want two more?

Do you need anything else?

Good job Aidan, good job.

[Hareem] Do you want to
bring a shake with you?

A strawberry shake?

Mrs. Maune, he said he
might take that soup or...

[Alyssa] At
least you're having fun.

Oh yeah.

No, there were parts of that,
that were definitely not fun.

I felt terrible though.

I don't know, I felt really
good the first few laps

but this last one was rough.

Things weren't looking good.

Jared was just waiting for me.

[Aidan] Dad, way up high.

Daddy, daddy

(kid mumbles)

No, no, no.

[Ed] Great job.

Course record, course record!

[Laz] 163 and 165,
y'all have fun out there.

(people clapping)

[Man 1] Outstanding!

(people clapping)

[Man 2] Tag the
gate, tag the gate.

[Laz] All the way!

32:14:47,

32:14:51.

You've got it made now.

It's all downhill from here.

[Alyssa] Good job guys.

[Laz] See y'all back
in about half an hour?

[Alan] Uh, yeah.

[John] Oh.

[Alyssa] Do you
know where you dropped Bev?

Yeah, on top of Stallion.

And thank you for a nice,
neat, orderly pile of pages.

[John] Three down,
that's kind of cool!

[Alyssa] Yeah it is,
it's way cool.

[John] Fun Run in the bank.

[Alyssa] Virgin Fun Run!

We got Mountain Dew
or caffeine pills?

[John] I kind of
don't want to take it

because I feel like
I don't need it yet.

Hey Nick, what
time are you going?

[Nick] Uh, in about 13 minutes.

You?

I just need to get at least
500 to 700 calories in me.

[John] Yeah, um.

I'll try to go with you guys,

but I might not quite make it.

[Alyssa] How about a Payday?

Oh, bomber. Yeah.

[John] It kind of started, so I
was just sort of working,

had a house, was doing
the whole domestic thing

and had this weird sort
of life-changing thing.

One year I just said,

I'm going to hike the
Appalachian Trail.

And I did that and I sort of
got hooked on that adventurous,

challenge lifestyle.

And then from there, I decided
to do a few more thru-hikes.

And I went home for Christmas
to visit with my family

and an old high school
friend was there.

We went out for a
beer and he said,

Yeah, I've got my first
marathon next weekend!

And I kind of just
sat there thinking,

that's something I
could probably do.

I know my dad ran a
marathon years ago.

I'm going to give it a try.

The leaders, these two guys.

That's four; me is five.

If Bev's still in
it, that's six.

And then Travis, that's seven.

I wonder if Tim's still in it?

[Alyssa] No.

Tim Englund?

He dropped at the tower.

Aw.

[Aaron] Hey man,
it's remarkable.

- Good job.
- Thanks, man.

[Aaron] How are your
feet holding up?

Uhm, ya know. They're okay.

Just gotta get through two more.

You ready, Nick?

Yeah, let's get the
hell out of here.

I think it's going
to be Nick and I,

and if John wants
to catch up to us

[Laz] You've got
everything you need?

[Alan] Yep.

[Laz] Dropped off everything
you don't need.

[Alan] Yep.

[Man] Way to go, Alan.

[Laz] You are now an
independent human being.

[Nick] 169, good stuff.

Cool.

[Ed] Okay, way to go, Nick.

[Laz] Go get 'em.

[Man] All right, go get 'em!

Good luck.

[Nick] Have you started
a fourth loop ever?

[Alan] Nope.

[Nick] All right.

[Laz] Have you handed
off everything

you need to hand off?

171, you're a free
man. Go get it.

[John] 171.

[Laz] 32:53:17.

[Man 1] Very good!

[Man 2] Good luck, John.

[Ed] Great job John!

[Man 1] Way to go, John.

[Ed] We want two more.

[Man 1] Two more!

[Man 2] But we'll
start with one right now.

[Man 3] Don't
forget, you're representing

an entire continent!

[Ed] Go Antarctica!

[John] No pressure, though.

(people clapping)

[Laz] 34:29:10.

Well, you got
about 13.5 hours to

get turned around.

[Bev] No, check and mate.

You sure? You've got time.

Yeah, my knee is not
going to take another one.

I wish I could.

[Julian] The briars are actually
a little better this year.

I know, I know.

Sorry to say that, you went
a lot further than I did.

[Bev]
Oh, this is going to be ugly.

I guess I won't be wearing
any dresses for a while.

I think most people
would be better off

with more pain in
their lives, honestly.

I think they would,
if nothing else,

appreciate the
pain-free times more.

But I think also there's
this self-induced aspect

of, you've struggled,
you've overcome,

you've gotten through,
then you're confident

and you both enjoy the
rest of your life more,

but also you feel
like you can do things

and you take on challenges that
you wouldn't otherwise try,

and you get to points that
you wouldn't otherwise reach.

(upbeat percussion music)

(people cheering and clapping)

[Laz] All the way to the gate!

35:36:29.

or 35:36:29

All right, Rob,
you've got 25 minutes

to start on the 100.

Do you wanna go on?

[Rob] I don't think so.

[Laz] Are you sure?

[Rob] 2012 was all
about the Fun Run.

Maybe someday.

[Laz] Great job.

Thank you.

Yeah, I worked
super hard for this.

This is my sixth attempt.

[Laz] It sounds
like he wants taps.

[Man] Finally, huh?

This is an odyssey that's
spanned over 15 years.

[Laz] One last chance, Rob.

No.

I far exceeded what
I thought I could do.

(Taps playing on bugle)

[Laz] People have their own
concepts of success and failure.

A lot of them, by the time
that they've been through

the ordeal,

really are not concerned

how other people evaluate
their performance.

They make their own judgments

about success and failure.

(instrumental music)

[Laz] Who's first?

(people clapping)

Brett?

[Brett] Brett.

[Hareem] You
get to decide the route

only when you sign out.

[Man] Yeah, Jared!

[Laz] Jared, all the
way to the yellow gate.

[Hareem] You've
got four gels, Brett.

[Brett] I waited for him.

[Man] Yeah?

He was having trouble.

[Man] Did you get
off course at all on that one?

I stayed with him.

This better not come
back to haunt me.

[Hareem] Do you want socks?

Please change socks.

Ah screw it, I don't
need the jacket.

[Hareem] Another banana?

Fig Newtons? Cookie?

[Brett] No. I think
I'm ready to go.

[Hareem] Eat it.

All of it.

- One bite, Brett.
- [Brett] What's this again?

[Man] That's
chocolate with caffeine.

I'm following you, I
got you with the bag.

[Mrs. Maune] Bye Brett.

[Laz] You ready?

[Hareem] I didn't put any
Endurolytes, do you need any?

[Brett] No.

[Hareem] Do
you need another shake?

Good?

[Brett] No, I'm fine.

Now?

[Brett] Yeah.

173.

[Hareem] Good luck, Brett.

[Woman] Good luck, Brett.

Nice job.

[Man] Ring the bell.

(bell ringing)

(people cheering and clapping)

[Brett] It's only around
lap four or lap five

where it would really start
to morph into a true race.

But it's so rare that you have

even two people
get that far that

it's a rare event
when it happens.

I know I would
race someone who's

also starting a loop five
in the opposite direction

and I'm sure they would as well.

[Interviewer] Are you
kind of hoping for that?

[Brett] Uh, yes.

Definitely.

Yeah, yeah.

It would be really exciting,

and I think it would lead
to an overall lower time,

knowing that there's
someone out there.

That can only encourage
you to go faster.

[Laz] Who is it?

[Alan] It's Alan.
I didn't make it.

[Laz] I was gonna say,

isn't this the wrong direction?

[Alan] Yep.

[Laz] You didn't make it?

[Alan] No, I had problems
on Pighead Creek.

I got all screwed up.

[Laz] Oh man, you
made it to Pighead?

[Alan] Yeah, then who
knows where after that.

[Laz] You went down Pighead?

[Alan] Yeah.

Little disappointing
how it turned out.

[Man] Is that the
furthest you've gone?

Yeah.

[Man] Good job.

[Travis] Who were you with?
Nick and...

I was with Nick and John.

How strong did they look?

Uh, John was looking
pretty strong.

[Laz] Not Nick?

Well, Nick uh...

He'll probably do pretty well.

He was kind of up and down.

(instrumental sad music)

[Man] Yay, Nick.

Wooo!

All right.

I'm disappointed in
myself on that but you're...

You did almost four loops.

That puts you in
pretty thin company.

Quitters Road is so long.

(people laughing)

That was awful.

Was John Fegys with you?

Did John already come in?

No.

He hasn't come in yet?

Shoot.

[Man] Way to go!

46:26:28.

[John] I got so lost out there.

[Joel] Is there
anything you want?

[Laz] He wants to have 11 pages.

You going straight back out
or you need a little break?

[John] I need a little break.

I don't have time
to sleep either.

[Travis] No.

Listen to me, I'm
not saying sleep,

I'm just saying you just...

[John] Oh, my feet hurt so bad.

I mean, it hurts so bad to run.

Oh, I'm going to be
running in a lot of pain.

Do you actually
have any dry socks?

[Travis] Oh yeah.

Because all my socks are damp.

They want to beat each other

and they will race
their guts out.

But as failure, for
one reason or another,

overtakes each one
of those top guys,

they become like a defacto

crew of the people who are left.

And when it winnows down
to that single runner

that's surviving,

he's got an aid crew
that's like a who's who.

The amount of knowledge and
experience and accomplishments

in that group,
helping him to go on

so that someone can succeed,

while if any one of them
were out there with him

at the same time,

they'd be trying to beat him.

[Travis] Your arms
and legs look like a scene

from Passion of the Christ.

I've never had blisters
my entire life.

[Alyssa] And
you've never done four loops

at the Barkley in
your entire life.

(people laughing)

[Joel] So you're
not going to pop them?

I'm not going to what?

[Joel] Pop 'em?

Yeah, I don't know.

I don't know if I have
anything to pop them with.

Does somebody have a little
tiny knife or something?

[Travis] Do some
surgery on your feet.

It's going to pay
huge dividends later.

13 hours.

[Ed] I would try
to poke through it

so you get two
little holes in it.

[Travis] I'm going
to let you do it.

[Ed] It'll drain out better.

Good, perfect.

If you can just poke
it right through.

Ouch. Hurts me to watch.

[John] Oh, God,
that hurts so bad.

[Joel] What I just did?

[John] No, just, like, running.

I just need to muscle
through it for 12 more hours.

There's nothing I can do
about the stuff under my...

[Joel] The macerated feet, no.

It's going to take probably
six to 12 hours to dry out.

Uh, if these means I can
run though, I'll be so happy.

[Aaron] John, don't
let these guys

stop you from going back out.

(people laughing)

I know, I do have to get moving.

Am I okay to put a sock on now?

[John] Travis, thanks
for dealing with my feet.

[Travis] I got a
one-hour warranty on
that. (Alyssa laughing)

[Joel] Aside from this,
are you feeling good?

[John] Yeah.

(people cheering and clapping)

[Ed] All right, John, way to go.

You're the man.

This has never happened before.

Three people on loop five.

Never in history.

[Alyssa] Never in history?

You're part of history, John!

[Laz] You got
everything you need?

Dropped off everything
you don't need?

I got a water
right there, right?

[Joel] Yes, your
flask is in there.

All right.

[Laz] 47:13:00

[Man 1] 177

[Man 2] You're gonna do it!

[Man 3] Great job, John.

(people cheering and clapping)

[Crowd] Bell! Ring the bell!

(bell ringing)

[Man 1] Keep on going, Johnny,
way to go!

I told Carl, I said,

Man, It's hard to believe
it's already Sunday.

He said, It's Monday.

I said, It's time
for me to take a nap.

[Travis] You got some sleep.

It didn't make me better did it?

[Travis] I wouldn't
say you look rested.

So what happened while
I was in slumber-land?

[Travis] Wouter just came back
from the tower and...

Both pages were gone.

And Brett was heading down.

So they met somewhere.

So it could be a race.

(suspenseful instrumental music)

[Alyssa] What is the
record, 55 or 56?

55.

Do you think that's
going to fall?

I don't know,
there's no telling.

And if it falls, who will it be?

[Travis] I didn't think
it would be this close.

[Alyssa] I know.

What a year!

(dramatic instrumental music)

[Brett] I always
expected to see Jared

around the next corner, and
then the race would be over.

Then I knew he was going to win.

[Aidan] Where's daddy?

[Hareem] Let's go find Daddy.

[Man 1] Here he comes!

[Mrs. Maune] There
he is, round the bend.

And he's running!

(people cheering and clapping)

[Mrs. Maune] Love you!

[Brett] I didn't believe
I actually won until

I got to the gate
and did not see Jared

amidst the assembled crowd.

(people cheering and clapping)

[Man] How much
sleep did you get?

One hour.

[Man] One hour, nice.

[Laz] Oh God.

Let nothing go wrong here.

[Ed] That's probably
almost three and a half hours

off the course record, I think.

Let me shake your hand,
this is just unbelievable.

[Brett] Yeah, I couldn't find
the first book for two hours.

[Laz] The first book?

[Man] Oh wow.

Yeah.

[Laz] But that's the easy one.

Yeah, I know!

(people laughing)

(people cheering and clapping)

[Joel] 52:03:08.

[Ed] The old record is 55.

Oh, thank you Aidan, thank you.

Daddy, eat this!

Yeah? Okay.

Yummy.

Yummy?

[Man 1] There he is!

(people cheering and clapping)

[Man 2] Right on!

[Ed] Congratulations.

I'm glad to be done with that.

Take that stuff off.

You're a bad bad man.

(people laughing)

[Man] You're the
11th person to finish this.

Sweet.

[Laz] You did a hell of a job.

Was it easier than you expected?

No.

It wasn't.

That was brutal.

Simply brutal.

[Man] What was the time?

Yeah, what was the time?

56:00:16.

Fun work.

It was fun running with you.

[Brett] Yeah.

It was quite the experience.

(people cheering and clapping)

I would have been
lost without this guy.

Seriously.

So thanks man, that was fun.

[Laz] Y'all made
an impressive team.

[Jared] Yeah.

[Laz] The camaraderie
of competition.

I hear people that talk
about, they well...

The competition is just
too hardcore for them

or they feel like
it's too rough,

but there's a closeness
between people

that you compete with.

One of my best friends
in my life was a guy

I competed against for
three years in high school,

and it was something we shared.

And they share that out here.

And especially in
this situation,

where the possibility
of success is so low.

Is anyone else out
on the fifth loop?

[John] As soon as I got out

in the middle of
nowhere, when I was out

on the Spectacle
and kind of just,

it's hot and just
out there by myself

and I knew everybody else
in the entire race was done,

and it was just me, I was
the only one on the course,

I started to,
like, really panic.

(suspenseful music)

There was this
focus, in growing up,

to be conservative when
it comes to your future

and have some good
plan for retirement,

and then travel
and see the world

and do all this fun
stuff when you retire.

I was really good about
that but then, uh...

Yeah, so kind of in one year

I had a series of a few
deaths in the family

and then I was in a
relationship for 10 years

and that ended so it
was like all this crap

just all happened to me
in one calendar year.

It was awful.

I was in a really bad place.

(dramatic instrumental music)

One of the deaths in
this case involved

was my father,

who had done just
what he had told me

and saved all this
money for him and my mom

to travel the world

and he passed away one
year before his retirement.

That's when I realized
that you gotta live.

You've gotta live your life.

(upbeat instrumental music)

I used to, when I
would go out on trails

and hike and run,

I never really thought about

just turning things off

and taking in the beauty of it.

And there would have been a
day where I was just like,

Oh, that's cool,
and kept walking.

But now, I really
try to just be like,

okay stop,

and realize how lucky
I am to be seeing

the cool things that I'm seeing.

Suck the marrow out of this

because you could get hit
by a bus tomorrow, man.

Like, this is amazing

this world we live in.

Ughhh, I really don't
want to get my feet wet.

(instrumental music)

(clock ticking)

Fegys is out there somewhere.

[Travis] Yeah,
didn't expect that.

[Man] He's gotta move.

He's got no room for error.

You can't write off
somebody 'cuz you don't know

how much they can come up
with from deep down inside,

but they're really
up against the clock.

(dramatic instrumental music)

[Man] How much
time does he have?

[Travis] He's got 26 minutes.

That'll be the tightest
that anyone's finished it.

[Wouter] 25 minutes left?

[Laz] He has 24 minutes left.

(cicadas chirping)

(people cheering and clapping)

[Man 1] Good Job, John.

(people cheering and clapping)

[Alyssa] Way to go, John!

[Man 2] Yeah!

[Man 3] Yeahhhhh!

(people cheering and clapping)

[Wouter] Touch it! Touch it!

(people cheering and clapping)

[Ed] All right, John, way to go!

Way to go!

59:41:21.

[Man 1] Awesome.

[Man 2] There's a
chair right behind you, John.

One more thing.

Right here.

[Electronic Voice]
That was easy.

(people laughing)

[Ed] Way to go John,
congratulations.

Awesome, awesome.

[Laz] I guess
there's a formality.

Let's pray for 11.

I counted them before.

Congratulations, John.

[Man] Oh yeah.

How does it feel to
be the slowest man ever

to finish this race?

(people laughing)

[Ed] Great job,
that's fantastic.

[John] The whole
reason for the Barkley

is so that you basically
crawl across the finish line.

Barely!

And you are so
shredded and ripped up

that you couldn't have gone
out for another 20 minutes,

and like that is
exactly my experience.

I mean, I finished
with barely enough time

and my feet were destroyed

and I was dehydrated
and I was hallucinating.

It was just every
possible thing.

There's no way I could
have run another two miles.

There's just no way.

I was totally at
the absolute limit.

So many people told me,

even before I knew
I wanted to do it,

just that like, you
have to be super elite

to finish Barkley.

And I just refused
to believe that.

I was like, I think if you
really want it bad enough,

Joe Schmo like me can finish.

It's not going to be pretty
and it's not going to be fun

but it's going to be possible.

[Joel] You're finisher
number 13 right?

[Man] Yeah.

[Joel] Lucky number 13.

[Wouter] 12th person.

[Joel] 12th?

[Wouter] 12th person.

[Joel] Oh, 12th
person, yeah, yeah, yeah.

13th finisher.

Man can only enjoy

that which he acquires
with hard work and toil.

The harder you
work for something,

the more you enjoy that.

If something is easy,
how much reward is there?

I think people that
go through this,

they're better for it.

They're not

made of better stuff
than other people

but they're better for what
they've asked of themselves.

[Laz] Put the guilty with
the innocent victims.

(people laughing)

[Man] What a year!

(camera clicking)

(camera clicking)

(surreal instrumental music)

[Interviewer] Something
we never asked you about

is the name of the Barkley,

and where that came from.

It's named after Barry Barkley.

Hello, my name is Barry Barkley.

A friend of mine named
a foot race after me

and it's called the
Barkley Marathons

and I have no idea
why he did it.

[Laz] We didn't know
we'd make him famous.

[Interviewer] How did you
decide to name the race

after Barry?

Well, he'd been
an invaluable help

in other races we've put on
and there was just something

about the character of
the race that I thought,

it fit.

Now the name is well
known all over the world.

Probably, if we had named
it something different,

it would not have had
this kind of success.

The Barkley Marathons, it
has its own ring to it.

(upbeat acoustic music)

[Interviewer] Have you
ever finished the Barkley?

[Laz] No, I never
came anywhere close.

[Interviewer] So even
when you said that,

Oh, I could do 100 miles
in that time, that was?

I was young and cocky.

(upbeat acoustic music)