Cantrell named the race for his longtime neighbor and running companion, Barry Barkley. Cantrell said to himself, "I could do at least 100 miles," mocking Ray's low mileage. Ray covered only about 12 miles (19 km) after running 54.5 hours in the woods hiding from air searches during the day. The idea for the race was inspired upon hearing about the 1977 escape of James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., from nearby Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. The Barkley course was the brain child of Gary " Lazarus Lake" Cantrell and Karl Henn (Raw Dog). The race is limited to a 60-hour period from the start of the first loop, and takes place in March or early April of each year. The course, which varies from year to year, consists of five loops of the 20+ mile, off-trail course for a total of 100 miles (160 km). The Barkley Marathons is an ultramarathon trail race held each year in Frozen Head State Park in Morgan County, Tennessee.
Photo: Michael Doyle / Canadian Running Magazine.Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee, U.S. 2022 would have finally been his chance to do so after three years of absence, but he has made the decision to withdraw because, as he said in his Instagram post, it’s “the right thing to do.” Gary Robbins and John Kelly after loop one of the 2017 Barkley Marathons. Since his first attempt six years ago, it has been Robbins’ goal to become the 16th person in Barkley Marathons history to actually finish the race. The event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic and he didn’t compete in 2021. There were no finishers the following year, and in 2019, Robbins was injured unable to race. That year, the only finisher was John Kelly. In 2018, Robbins was the only fun run finisher, which means he completed three loops in under 40 hours. He made it to the fifth lap in his first two years and very narrowly missed finishing in 2017. Robbins has attempted the infamous race three times already, in 2016, 20.
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