19-03-2025
2025 Barkley Marathons kicks off at Frozen Head State Park
WARTBURG, Tenn. (WATE) — The 2025 Barkley Marathons kicked off Tuesday at the Frozen Head State Park.
It is a backwoods ultra-marathon steeped in quirky traditions, and is one of the most grueling in the country. After the conch was blown and the cigarette was lit, 6 News sat down with founder Gary Cantrell, or 'Lazarus Lake' as he is known in the community, to learn what is special about this year's race.
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'This is the testing ground to really see, 'Can you make the cut?'' said Cantrell.
While each year has a slightly different route, Cantrell says one thing stays the same. The Barkley Marathon is made up of 100 miles of running and climbing through the Smoky Mountains with only 60 hours to run five 20-mile loops.
'The race has a pretty rugged reputation,' he said. 'In 40 years, there's been 20 finishers.'
He said last year produced five of those finishers, mostly due to the nice weather which is expected again this year. But despite the dauting course, people from across the globe come to compete.
'We get applications from all over the world, and I don't know over the years how many countries have actually been here,' said Cantrell. 'We split the field, we can take 40 so we take 20 from North America, which is the US, Canada, Mexico, and 20 from overseas, which is anywhere else.'
Among those who have tried the race themselves is Carl Laniak, the new marathon director.
'When something is at the edge of human potential, and even if you can only make it 20% of the way, if you got everything out of yourself and really felt like you dug deeper than you had before, you know you're getting most of the same feeling that those world class athletes at the front are also getting,' said Laniak.
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Despite not crossing the finish line, he said being part of the race does bring people together.
'Humans are all the same,' he said, 'like there's people like us everywhere whatever you're into, there's somebody in Asia who's into it too.'
At the entrance to the race a display of flags and license plates show the number of countries and states represented throughout the years. A tradition Cantrell said is symbolic of the athletes who have shaped the Barkey Marathon into what it is today.
'All the license plates, those all represent a person who left a piece of themself out here on these trails,' said Cantrell.
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