Update (8:36 p.m. EST): Damian Hall returned to camp without all his pages, and did not complete the “fun run.” Only one runner finished even three of the five laps required. The Barkley ends without a finisher for the second straight year.
For the second consecutive year, the Barkley Marathons will have no finishers, as the notorious ultramarathon in Tennessee’s Frozen Head State Park once again proved unconquerable.
The 2026 edition, which began at 6:00 a.m. EST on February 14 was the earliest start time in the race’s history.
Just one runner completed three of the five required loops before the field succumbed to a combination of harsh weather and tactical challenges from race director Gary “Lazarus Lake” Cantrell.
As of Saturday evening, Sébastien Raichon of France stood alone as the sole finisher of a “Fun Run,” the race’s designation for completing three loops within the 40-hour cutoff. He arrived at the Frozen Head camp ground gate, the iconic start/finish line of the Barkley, in 38:05:46.
One other runner, Damian Hall of the United Kingdom, remained on course attempting to join him before the 10:00 p.m. deadline. Only four runners—Raichon, Hall, Max King, and Mathieu Blanchard—managed to complete two loops, while a mere 12 of the 40 starters finished even a single lap.
That last figure is particularly striking. In previous years, an average of about 26 runners have completed the first loop, making 2026’s attrition rate among the worst in the race’s four-decade history.
The brutality was evident from the start: cold conditions, and then rain soaked the unmarked course, turning the already treacherous climbs and descents into either frozen or muddy quagmires. Runners faced approximately 67,000 feet of elevation gain across the full five-loop, 100-mile course—though the exact distance remains deliberately ambiguous, with estimates ranging up to 130 miles when accounting for navigation errors.
Adding to the difficulty, Cantrell ran the course in reverse from its usual direction, a disorienting twist that transformed familiar sections into fresh challenges. Combined with the February timing—earlier than the race’s traditional late March or early April slot—the elements became as formidable an opponent as the terrain itself.
The Barkley Marathons, inspired by the 1977 escape of James Earl Ray from nearby Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, has cultivated a reputation as perhaps the world’s most difficult endurance event since its inception in 1986. The course, which must be completed within 60 hours for a full finish, has seen only 20 different runners complete all five loops across 26 total finishes in its history. No one has finished since a group of five in 2024, including Jasmin Paris, the first woman to complete the Barkley. Multiple years have often passed with zero finishers—a testament to Lake’s evolving course design and his willingness to adjust variables like start time, direction, and conditions.
This year’s weather-beaten field joins a growing list of unsuccessful attempts in recent years. The 2025 race similarly produced no finishers, continuing a pattern of increasing difficulty in the aftermath of the field having total success.
As the 40-hour mark approaches, Damian Hall’s ongoing attempt represents the final hope for even a Fun Run completion. Whether he succeeds or not, the 2026 Barkley Marathons has already secured its place as one of the toughest years in the history of the event.
