![]() ![]() ![]() Runners have to decode a byzantine entry procedure just to get in the door, and the entry fee for newcomers is a license plate from their home state. Off the course, the Barkley is no less of a challenge. And every time someone does, the course is tweaked. Only 14 hardy souls have completed the full distance since the race started in 1986, including two runners at this year’s edition in April. So what, exactly, is the Barkley Marathons, the legendary event that every year draws 40 people to Tennessee’s Frozen Head State Park to attempt to finish a 60,000-vertical-foot course in under 60 hours? Ask anyone who has tried it, and you’ll get one answer: It’s the most brutal race on earth. The course is barely marked, and forces competitors to negotiate mountains and thick underbrush in rapidly changing conditions, but the Barkley is not an adventure race. Runners competing in it slog through the mud, look for hidden checkpoints, and cross through a dark tunnel, but they’re not running in an obstacle race like Tough Mudder. Out There is a story of persistence, endurance and a love for the great outdoors, and the film inspires the audience to reconnect with nature themselves and to find courage for personal challenges.The Barkley Marathons is 100 miles long, but it’s not an ultramarathon. How did setting these world records prepare Karel for a race as brutal as “the Barkley”? How did these adventures help Karel to find the necessary mindset to do well at this Spartan challenge? ![]() Out There – A journey to the Barkley Marathons is the story of Belgian ultrarunner Karel Sabbe, who holds the world records on two of the most epic trails in the world: the 4300km long Pacific Crest Trail and the 3500km long Appalachian Trail. The course is unmarked, no electronic devices are allowed and most of the race is off-trail. Runners are to run five 20-mile loops, within a 60 hour time frame, and with more than 20.000 meters of elevation change. The race is so brutal that, since the inception of the race, only 15 people have managed to finish. The Barkley Marathons – one of the world’s toughest ultramarathons, has been held annually in the Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee, since 1987. ![]()
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