MORGAN COUNTY, Tenn. — Rain poured down in the Morgan County mountains on Saturday, drenching some of the people who gathered to endure and persevere through one of the most challenging footraces in the country — the Barkley Fall Classic.
The race has been called sadistic, insane, painful and one of the most satisfying achievements runners can achieve. And on Saturday, people took off from Frozen Head State Park to see if they could get beat the Barkley.
According to reports, students from Coalfiel Middle School were there to help organize the race and keep track of the runners. The spring version of the race attracts runners from across the country, and many traveled to Wartburg for the fall classic too.
Only 15 people finished the Barkley Marathons in the past 35 years.
Once runners set off on their journey, a big part of the race is a hunt for 13 checkpoints in the woods to mark the loop. Those checkpoints are books in the woods protected from the elements by zip-lock plastic bags. The runners must tear a page out of the book and return with it to prove they actually ran the designated course.
The only measure of any comfort is knowing that one location will always be part of the loop. The now-closed Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary where James Earl Ray escaped in 1977. Runners are allowed to go through a tunnel beneath the prison and emerge at the site where Ray jumped over the stone wall during his escape.
A documentary was also made about the race in 2014 — The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young.