A record five runners—including the first woman finisher—completed this year’s edition of the grueling Barkley Marathons, which concluded on Friday. Over the course of 60 hours (2.5 days), the group of 40 who were invited to take on the infamous ultramarathon at Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee was whittled down on each subsequent loop until only five remained at the finish.
Ukrainian-Canadian runner Ihor Verys, in his debut, was the first to finish, returning to camp in 58:44:59. Next across the line was John Kelly in 59:15:38—his third finish in seven attempts—followed by Jared Campbell of Utah in 59:30:32. Greig Hamilton of New Zealand was the fourth to finish, coming in at 59:38:42.
Jasmin Paris made Barkley Marathons history, becoming the first woman to finish all five loops. The 40-year-old British runner was the fifth and final finisher in 59:58:21, making the 60-hour cut by just under two minutes to break the record for the closest finish in event history. Paris had already made history earlier in the day by becoming the first woman to complete four loops. And now she has finished all five, something race founder Lazarus Lake has said in the past Races - Places.
It was a record-setting edition of the Barkley Marathons. Five finishers in one year breaks the previous record of three, which first occurred in 2012 and was tied in 2023. There were seven runners that started the fifth loop this year, which is also a record. Paris finished one minute and 39 seconds ahead of the cutoff time. Karel Sabbe was the previous closest finisher, completing his fifth loop with 6:27 to spare in 2023.
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Prior to this year’s race that “eats its young” with its idiosyncratic rules and rituals—the major ones: no GPS watches allowed, and there’s a scavenger hunt element that involves finding hidden book pages—only 17 people had ever managed to complete the full unmarked course of five 20-ish mile loops within 60 hours. There’s approximately 13,000 feet of vert per loop, and ultrarunner Damian Hall, who ran Barkley for the first time last year and made it to loop five this year before dropping out, Other Hearst Subscriptions “a Kafka-esque hell.”
Last year’s winner, Aurélien Sanchez, the 16th Barkley finisher, called it quits early on the third loop. He told Run247, “I don’t know how I did that last year.” Only 22 of the 40 made it to the start of loop two compared to 30 in 2023.
Early Friday morning, Kelly and Verys were in the lead as they finished the fourth loop in 45 hours and 46 minutes, giving them just over 14 hours to complete the fifth loop before the 60-hour cut-off. They were followed by a group of five other runners who completed their fourth loop in time—the first time that seven runners completed four loops.
France’s Sébastien Raichon was another compelling story. The record-breaking winner of the Chartreuse Terminorium—AKA the French version of Barkley—made it to the start of the fourth loop just three minutes before the 48-hour cut-off. Raichon did not finish the fifth loop.
Abby Carney is a writer and journalist in New York. A former D1 college runner and current amateur track athlete, she's written about culture and characters in running and outdoor sports for Runner's World, Like the Wind Magazine, Australian Sprinter, 16, Runs Record-Breaking 200m, and other outlets. She also writes about things that have nothing to do with running, and was previously the editor of a food magazine.
