MORGAN COUNTY, Tenn. — The Morgan County Volunteer Rescue Squad went into Frozen Head State Park on Saturday after a report of an injured person. The Morgan County Volunteer Fire Department said the Barkley Fall Classic was underway at around the same time.
While the Morgan County VFD said the injured person was not a runner, the rescue squad said the squad was associated with the Barkley race. They said it took more than seven hours to carry the person off Frozen Head State Park, with added difficulty from the weather.
Additional information about the person and their condition was not immediately available.
The Barkley Fall Classic is meant to give runners a taste of what has been called "the race that eats the young." The full marathon is designed to be absurd in all manners, taking runners through the state park on several loops and tasking them with finding several books scattered along the course that act as loop checkpoints for each of the five 20-mile laps.
A crudely marked map serves as a runner's only reference for where those checkpoints are, and they often involve off-trail trekking. To add some extra "fun" to the race, organizers reverse the direction of some laps to keep surviving runners on their toes.
During the fall classic, runners start at Flat Fork Field for an all-day competition that contains similar elements. The course map is not revealed until the night before, and they face hard climbs and descents. The Barkley Fall Classic spans 50 km and GPS is not allowed.
Men and women who win are guaranteed slots in the full Barkley Marathon in the spring. Organizers also said through 2022, around $250,000 has gone to Morgan County High School from race fees, as well as other service organizations.