No Runners Finish 2025 Barkley Marathons

No runners finished the 2025 Barkley Marathons which began Tuesday morning (March 18, 2025) at Frozen Head State Park in Morgan County (Tennessee). Each year both the application process and the event date are closely guarded secrets.  But as word leaked, runners from around the world were glued to social media and running news outlets.  Organizers apparently made this year’s course a lot tougher than last year’s which saw 5 racers finish the 100-plus-mile event within the 60 hour time limit.  Known as the “word’s hardest race”, the event is limited to about 40 runners. By Wednesday night only 3 racers remained, including three-time Barkley Marathon finisher John Kelly.  He completed three loops and earned a “fun run” before he tapped out early Thursday morning.  That left only Tomokazu Ihara of Japan and Sébastien Raichon of France on Loop Three.  Raichon did not complete the loop and Ihara returned to camp past the deadline.  This year, the course won “The Race That Eats Its Young.”