David Goggins Says He Will Run 2026 Barkley Marathons: “This Will Be Easy”

In a now-deleted social media post early Tuesday, ultrarunner and motivational icon David Goggins announced his intention to run the 2026 Barkley Marathons — a race widely considered one of the toughest in the world. But simply finishing isn’t the goal, according to Goggins.

“This will be easy,” the post read. “I’m coming to break the Barkley.”

Goggins, 49, is no stranger to pain. A former Navy SEAL and endurance athlete known for his relentless mindset and viral catchphrases, he has built a career around doing things most people wouldn’t attempt even once. He’s completed 100-mile and 240-mile races, multi-day triathlons, and his own self-devised “4x4x48 Challenge” — a test of willpower that involves running 4 miles every 4 hours for 48 hours. He’s also done 4,030 pull-ups in 17 hours — just to “see what it would feel like to fail.”

Now, he says he’s ready for the Barkley.

The race few finish

The Barkley Marathons, held annually in Tennessee’s Frozen Head State Park, is ultrarunning’s most enigmatic and punishing event. Officially listed at about 100 miles, the race consists of five 20-mile loops through unforgiving backcountry terrain, mostly off-trail, with over 60,000 feet (18,288 meters) of elevation gain.

There are no aid stations, no GPS devices, and no course markings. Runners must navigate using only map and compass, tear pages from hidden books to prove they’ve stayed on course, and complete the race within 60 hours. Since its creation in 1986, only 20 people have finished.

Goggins was accepted into the race in 2017 but ultimately did not start, citing a conflict with his book tour.

“I want to break it”

In an excerpt from his 2026 Barkley application letter, which Goggins shared in full on the now-deleted Instagram post, he wrote:

“Dear Laz,
I’m not writing this letter to ask for your permission. I’m writing to let you know I’m coming. You built a race that breaks people. I’m unbreakable.

I’ve dragged my body through Death Valley in 125-degree heat. I’ve run 240 miles on broken legs. I’ve done 4,000 pull-ups in a day just to see what it would feel like to fail. The Barkley? I’ve been training for this race my entire life — I just didn’t know it yet.

I want in. Not just to finish. I want to break it. I want to run five loops, rip out your little book pages, and still have enough left to jog a sixth loop, perhaps with no map or compass.

No GPS. No comfort. No mercy. That’s how I live. I don’t need a yellow gate to suffer — I do that every damn day. But I want to suffer your way.

Stay hard.
– Goggins”

According to a source close to Goggins, his current Barkley training regimen includes “echolocation drills” in which he navigates the gated community where he lives in Las Vegas blindfolded. He’s also reportedly created a new “hate mixtape” — an audio compilation of every negative comment ever posted about him — which he listens to on repeat while running hill repeats in and out of the Grand Canyon at midnight, in a weighted vest.

“He says it’s how he metabolizes doubt,” the source said. “He calls it ‘fuel from the weak.’”

The source also said Netflix has expressed interest in partnering with Goggins on a documentary about his preparation and running the 2026 Barkley.

Race creator skeptical

Gary “Lazarus Lake” Cantrell, the race’s creator and longtime arbiter of ultrarunning suffering, responded with characteristic skepticism.

“David’s reputation precedes him,” Cantrell said. “But the Barkley has a way of humbling even the toughest. I’ll believe he’s running when I see him at the gate. Assuming he doesn’t get distracted by a book signing or a shirtless podcast appearance.”

Cantrell noted the philosophical contrast: “The Barkley’s not about attention. It’s about disappearing into the woods and questioning your life choices while bleeding into your socks.”

Community reactions

Keith Dunn, the unofficial voice of the Barkley and perennial fixture at the yellow gate with three phones and zero patience, didn’t mince words in a thread posted to X.

@keithdunn: Goggins won’t even find the first book, if he dares show up. #BM100

@keithdunn: Goggins won’t make it out of camp. He’ll be live-streaming at the gate until his phone dies. #BM100

@keithdunn: The Barkley isn’t content. It’s a career-ending existential crisis disguised as a run. #BM100

@keithdunn: I’ll believe he’s serious when he shows up without a camera crew and remembers which way is north. #BM100

@keithdunn: Plus, I’m the guy who gets all the Barkley attention on Twitter or whatever you call it now. Not Goggins. Damn you, Goggins! #BM100

Reactions from the ultrarunning world ranged from admiration to cautious disbelief.

Courtney Dauwalter, widely considered one of the toughest ultrarunners alive — with course records at the Western States 100, Hardrock 100, and UTMB — couldn’t help but reflect on her own humbling experience.

“The Barkley absolutely kicked my ass,” she said. “I’ve dominated some of the hardest races in the world, but that one had me questioning everything by mile three. If Goggins thinks he can just out-tough it, well… I hope he packed humility. And a shirt. Why is he seemingly always shirtless… and does he shave his chest? Weird. Anyway, good luck to him. He’ll need it.”

Gary Robbins, who spent three years chasing a Barkley finish and came heartbreakingly close in 2017, offered this:

“At this point, I’m not even sure if I’ve ever really left the Barkley. I think I might be inside it still.

Every night, the same dream. I’m at the gate. It’s raining, or maybe that’s just how it always feels now. Laz hands me a conch, but it’s melting, and he tells me I’m already late for the second loop. I run into the woods and everything shifts — I’m not in Tennessee anymore, I’m in a replica of Frozen Head built inside my own subconscious.

That’s when I realize I’m in the first layer.

John Kelly is my navigator. He’s got maps tattooed across his arms and keeps saying cryptic things like, ‘You have to get lost to find the loop.’ Jasmin Paris appears at the fire tower, but she’s dressed like a librarian and speaks only in time splits. I’m bleeding, but I don’t know where from.

Then I descend deeper.

The second loop is entirely underwater, but somehow I can breathe. I have to tear book pages out of jellyfish. The pages dissolve in my hand, but I keep going. Keith Dunn floats past me in a canoe made of outdated GPS devices, live-tweeting everything. ‘Robbins is drifting again. Might not surface this time.’

Loop three: gravity reverses. The books are suspended in midair. The briars grow upward. I see my 2017 self running backwards through a wrong turn. I try to warn him. He doesn’t listen. No one ever does.

That’s when the realization hits me — I’m in a Barkley within a Barkley. A loop inside a loop. A race I’ve designed in my own mind to punish myself for not finishing. And it goes deeper.

In the final layer, the fog is so dense it’s like running through memory. That’s when he appears: Goggins.

He’s wearing a 50-pound weighted vest made entirely of old Barkley book pages. Loudspeakers are duct-taped to his chest, playing an endless loop of Goggins’ voice, yelling, ‘No one loves you, David.’ He’s sprinting uphill on all fours, dragging the fire tower behind him by a chain. He doesn’t bleed. He just steams.

I ask him what loop we’re on. He stares through me and says, ‘Loop seven. Time doesn’t exist here.’

Then he vanishes into the mist, and I’m back at the gate. Laz is smiling. The conch is whole again.

I wake up. But I don’t think I left.”

John Kelly, a two-time finisher known for balancing grit with dry logic, offered a more measured take:

“Goggins has the toughness to go deep — no question. Barkley isn’t about pain tolerance, it’s about disorientation, strategy, and managing the chaos. But if Gary’s dreams are to be believed — and frankly, they track — then we may already be in Loop Four. I just hope Goggins doesn’t move the fire tower again.”

Even Barkley legend Jasmin Paris, who finished in 2024 with just 99 seconds to spare, added a wry observation:

“I admire his confidence. But I think he’ll be disappointed, because when you die in the Barkley, you just wake up back in the middle of Loop 1.”

What’s next

The 2025 Barkley concluded without a single finisher after Cantrell quietly increased the course’s difficulty — possibly by shifting the books, doubling back some climbs, and folding Rat Jaw upon itself. In a Facebook post days after the 2025 edition concluded, Cantrell said that next year runners would also be haunted by “a French woman named Mal” on course.

Whether Goggins arrives in 2026 remains to be seen. But if he does, it could be the most anticipated Barkley debut since Kilian Jornet considered entering to see if he could “run the race without interfering with it.”

One thing’s for sure: If David Goggins takes on the Barkley, we’ll either witness one of the greatest performances in ultrarunning history — or the loudest, most inspirational DNF of all time. And either way, he is already there, trapped forever, as the loops fold atop each other.