Barkley Marathon - Nicky Spinks and Jasmin Paris

[AuntieStella]

They are among the 5 England competitors, the third woman is Katie Wright and the men are Damian Hall are Tom Hollins

24 competitors this year.

Keith is doing a brilliant commentary on Twitter (@ KeithDunn) Seven runners didn't make the cut off for finishing loop 1 (at least one because she got lost)

For those who don't know, this is a brutal and idiosyncratic trail ultramarathon - extremely rough terrain, no GPS watches allowed, course is not marked and runners get instructions on the day and then have to find their way.

Anyone else following it this year?

I'm finding it oddly fascinating! It's the sort of running I wish I could do, but know I never will

Eep hope she makes it back and feels able to continue!

Damian has started Loop 5. I was starting to wonder if he would!

Wow, 4 runners on loop 5 now?

I think Jasmin's timed out now Hope she's OK and still finishes loop 4.

She’s done amazingly well

Yeah think she’s timed out. Bloody amazing!

I was thinking the same.

Gutted for her but at the same time really really impressed

Yes Keith Dunn confirms she's out, absolutely amazing though

Want to see her back safe and sound and then I can start cheering for Damian.

Four runners on Loop 5. This is a race now.

4 on loop five is amazing. John has beaten it before I think.
Laz will probably want to make it harder if 4 finish....

Hopefully Jasmine will arrive in time. The sun is up which is good.

According to Keith, with 4 runners on loop 5, Laz is concerned that he won't get as many applicants, as people might think the course is to easy....

I wonder how far Jasmin got? It would be good if she completed the lap

Latest tracker

Come on Damo!!!!!

Rooting for JK though. I hope he wins. Home turf and all.

I'm mind-boggled to imagine how rough the terrain must be. The loops are "only" 20-25 miles, and Jasmin runs like a gazelle even over very steep, rough ground! Can't wait to hear more about her adventure :-)

The final four runners
(name, nationality, direction, time at end loop 4, time started loop 5)

John Kelly (US) - clockwise - 45.50.23 - 46.02.55
Aurelien Sanchez (Fr) - anticlockwise - 45.57.09 - 46.07.50

Karel Sabbe (NL) - clockwise - 46.36.57 - 46.59.20
Damian Hall (UK) - anticlockwise - 47.39.25 - 47.49.03

Sun rose about an hour ago

Is there any news about Jasmin yet? I know she can’t start the fifth, but obviously hoping she gets back safe from 4th soon.

Correction: Karel Sabbe is Belgian, not Dutch

No word on Jasmin. I'm hoping we'll find out roughly where she was when she ran out of time. And also that she finishes the loop, even though she missed the cut off.

More stuff from a Barkley nerd tweet - to finish, the remaining four need to do their fifth loop in these times of faster:

John “The Other Guy” Kelley
14:09

Aurelien “Another Bearded Guy” Sanchez
14:02

Karel “Another Bearded Guy” Sabbe
13:23

Damian “Guy With Mohawk” Hall
12:20

A few years ago I'm sure it took one bloke almost a day to get back to camp, he'd fallen asleep. Hopefully Jasmine will be much quicker.

1000 yard stares in full effect there 👀

Aurelien spotted on Rat Jaw.

"Aurelien is going CCW so that's about 1/3 of the loop in 4h, putting him on pace for a 12h loop"

Just seen pix of him at the Tower (? top of Rat Jaw) at 50.10

Which puts him on course for roughly a 13hr loop, which would see him back with about an hour in hand

Anyone know how far Tom Hollins got in the race please?

@Monkeytapper

Looking at the spreadsheet by TakaDoesStuff (which I linked to this thread at 14.21 yesterday) and which is the nearest thing complete record, it looks like he ran two loops but did not finish the second before the cut off (or at all)

There’s a fascinating documentary out there, watched it a few years ago. barkleymovie.com