North Vancouver’s ultra-runner Gary Robbins came agonizingly close this week to becoming the first Canadian ever to finish the notorious 100-mile Barkley Marathons adventure race held annually in Tennessee.
Emphasis on the word agonizing.
The race, which gained a level of fame recently after being featured in a Netflix documentary, sees just 40 hand-picked participants attempt to tackle five loops of a course that is at least 20 miles (32 kilometres). The course has a cumulative elevation increase of approximately 16.5 kilometres throughout the five loops. Racers must finish each loop in 12 hours or less, meaning the total time for 100 miles must be 60 hours or less.
Many years none of the competitors are able to finish all five loops. This year only one runner finished – Utah’s Jared Campbell, who became the first person to ever finish three times.
Robbins and Campbell were the final two racers left on the course in the fifth and final lap when Robbins finally tapped out, literally – each runner who bows out before finishing is serenaded with a trumpeter playing “Taps.”
According to social media reports from spectators at the race, Robbins committed a costly navigational error on the final loop and succumbed to sleep deprivation and hallucinations. Linda Barton-Robbins, Gary's wife who is also an ultra-runner, tweeted her support for her husband:
Proud of my husband, @gary_robbins & his 4.5 loops @BarkleyMarathon. Not many get that far let alone finish. Tent Mahal will return in 2yrs.
— Linda (@lindabear78) April 5, 2016
The race is known for its numerous quirks, most coming from the mind of eccentric race creator and director Gary Cantrell. The race can begin anytime from 11 p.m. to 11 a.m. on race day, with the director blowing a conch to let racers know they race will begin in one hour. The start is signaled by Cantrell lighting a cigarette.
There are few aid stations along the course and racers mark their progress by finding books along the course and tearing out pages corresponding to their bib number. The course is not marked – one map is provided to all the runners the night before the race.
Robbins bowed out Monday night, making it further than any Canadian runner ever has in the race.
