The Barkley Marathons 2024. Conch shell at the ready...

[Taylormiffed]

No idea when it will start. Follow @ keithdunn on twitter as he's usually the only journo who attends.

Let's hope for another safe race. Maybe a woman can finish for the first time and hopefully there'll be a handful of Brits to cheer on. Although tbh, I'll cheer on anyone crazy enough to attempt it.

Wow: very well done Jasmine!

it is a crazy event! Fascinating.

She was (whatever Laz's equivalent is) of head-hunted for the Barkley

When he heard about her Spine Race victory (winning by an insane margin, holding the course record - not women's record but actual record - whilst expressing breast milk during breaks) he went to see if this amazing woman had ever applied. At that stage she hadn't, but from that point, acceptance must have been certain.

And once again, she's done an insanely short interloopal, is back out there and going clockwise

And she's off on lap 5!

Jared Campbell is going counter-clockwise.

Someone on Twitter has said that if Jared finishes, it will be his fourth finish which would be absolutely amazing 😮

Jared C seems like a nice fella..wish him the best. Going to work now..come on Jasmine, it’s nearly in the bag. 🤩

He was on the 2012 documentary wasn’t he? I think that was his first year of finishing. I agree, he seems like a nice chap. [adds Jared to the rooting for list]

I mean who am I kidding - I’m just rooting for all of them!

Six on loop 5 - this is unheard of!!

The main tracker spreadsheet is yet to be updated, ditto the other infographics

But summary is that the first six to set out on loop 4 have all now set off on loop 5. List with time in/time back out and direction:

1. Ihor Verys 45.46.32 / 46.06.32 - clockwise
2. John Kelly 45.46.36 / ?? - anticlockwise
3. Greig Hamilton 46.15.43 / ?? - anticlockwise
4. Damian Hall 46.16.27 / ?? - clockwise
5. Jared Campbell 46.19.25 / ?? - anticlockwise
6. Jasmin Paris 46.29.12 / ?? - clockwise

Keith hasn't provided all the times for setting off again. The official times go in order of finish time of last completed loop, so that's the order of those six, but it's not the order they set back out in - Damian left before Greig and Jasmin left before Jared.

Looking at historic data, those loop 4 times all fall within the range of times run by those who went on to finish

This is too much. The number of people all out on loop 5! Astonishing! They are all well capable of a finish too.

I really hope Damo & Jasmin finish. And Ihor Verys - what an incredible runner he is. I think Kelly might be first back. He is a pretty good tactical napper. I hope Jared gets another finish, and Grieg....

Tweet from John Sugden - made me smile

"No big deal; John Kelly's posted his fastest time through loop 4, Greig's had his first loop 4 finish, Damo 74 minutes ahead of last year's effort, a solid effort from Jared , and Jasmin making history"

😃

Other news from Keith:

Tomo Ilhara dropped on loop 4, taking the quitter's road back to camp.

Albert Herrero Casas also came back via quitter's road and was tapped out

6 on loop 5
0 in camp
1 still on loop 4

Did my little run while thinking about all the runners but especially Jasmin

There are some incredible athletes out there, I love following the BM. If I hadn’t completely knackered my ankle years ago it is the sort of thing I would have loved to have had a go at myself. However, I struggled with just 5km of off-road running in the forest recently, so 100 miles would be very far out of my comfort zone!

I am very much hoping Jasmin Paris completes the 5th loop. The woman is made of steel! For women, she has put us on the leadership table as potential serious stamina event contenders. Without her performance in the Spine Race, breastfeeding at rest stations, many of us would not be discussing women (in general)’s ability in stamina and endurance competitions. For ultramarathons, she has out them into the forefront of average people’s minds. The fact that anyone (male or female) would even try this sort of thing has been publicised more thanks to her amazing efforts.

The thing I am most in awe of with the runners is their mental focus. I have experience as a competitor in a different event (a 100km orienteering race on horses which takes place at night) and have finished it 3 times, with one Did Not Finish which was as a direct result of hallucinating just after the second sunrise. I’d completed 85km by this point, a lot of it on foot because the terrain was too tough for the horse to carry me. The fact that the BM competitors keep going for 60 hours and still manage to function is unbelievable.

BTW, if anyone has any links or photos of the instructions the runners are given, or the maps of any previous route, I would be very interested to see them.

Taka has updated his spreadsheet, and has put those on loop 5 in the order they left camp (not loop 4 finish order). Other trackers will probably follow his lead.

Looking at the spreadsheet, a couple of points

• for the six to become a magnificent 7, the other Frenchman, Sebastien Raichon needs to finish loop 4 and get back out there in the next ~45 minutes
• there was a third English runner this year, Jim Mann, who came 18th having completed one loop in ~11.30

Plus Keith tweeted a correction last night (he had posted that Harald Zandul had dropped out after getting lost and knocking at someone's door looking for help). Corrected version - Harald did not get lost; because of a rolled ankle and some other issues, he decided to pull out

This is amazing!!

6 on loop 5!!

In the doc about the race it calculated that each loop has the same altitude gain as two ascents on Everest!....and six of them are doing that for the fifth time!

Cmon Jasmin!

@GCircus
I believe competitors are forbidden from revealing any of this info

@GCircus, I'm not sure which year this is from, but it's the most detailed account I've read of what it's like to compete. I don't think the route is ever published. There's very limited film of the event. Barkley — RunningandStuff

@GCircus you might like to read up also on Nicki Spinks, another British woman whose endurance running career is utterly amazing. She never conquered the Barkley, but did set all three major British fell running records, plus held outright record for Bob Graham double until 2020 and is the only person to have completed doubles of the Ramsay Round and the Paddy Buckley Round, plus has various other fell running titles. Most of her achievements came after mastectomy and successful breast cancer treatment.

Nicky Spinks - Wikipedia

I really wanted Nicky and Jasmin to win SPOTY in the early 00s, as we had two women who were both outright record holders with amazing achievements. But Beeb not interested enough in less mainstream sports, even though general participation in running is high

Jasmin just before starting loop 5.

also @GCircus

Women are very much to the fore in non-trail endurance events too

Camille Herron - Wikipedia - outright world record holder

Back to Barkley - most of the route info is confidential, but there are certain elements which feature every year (like Rat Jaw and the penitentiary and the fire tower) so bits of it can be stitched together. Locations of the books may well change, even if the best route between them is much the same. And of course, as long as you get all your pages, it doesn't matter what route. And it changes ever year.

If you google you'll find lots of info with best guesses put together from the bits that are known. I saw a good one the other day that shows the insane elevation - I'll add it to the thread if I find it again

Sebastien Raichon appeared to finish loop 4 but had to go back to correct a course error near the end of the loop. Finished in 47.45.39

(So it seems my blind optimism that you can do whatever you like for a route as long as you get the pages is misplaced, and that you should stick to the prescribed route as closely as possible - or at least within site of camp!!)

@GCircus 2023 elevation info - you’ll prob need to click on the image to see all of it

Magnificent Seven!!!

Sebastien Raichon goes back out there with 3 mins to spare!

😮