The heartbreaking story of the world’s most ridiculous race

The Barkley Marathons are a sporting event that every logical part of your brain tells you shouldn’t exist. A 100-mile trail run through frigid forests of Tennessee in an event that only 15 people have ever completed, and begins each year with a man lighting a cigarette.

It’s been going since 1986, but it wasn’t until 1995 that someone completed the full 100-mile version of the race. It’s run annually, but this year’s race features the heartbreaking story of Gary Robbins, who was on a quest to be the first Canadian man to complete the race.

The Barkley Marathons have one simple rule: The race must be completed in 60 hours to be considered a legal finish. Running 100 miles in 60 hours might not sound like much if you think about flat ground, but this race as if a scientist created it in a test tube to exert as much pain on a human as possible. There are over 100,000 feet of elevation changes during the 100 mile course — which, to compare, Mt. Everest is 29,029 feet.

One hundred miles. Sixty hours. Gary Robbins was told he finished in 60:00:06. He was six seconds late. Six. He received a “DNF” and denied becoming the 16th person to finish the race by six seconds, or so he thought. Video of his finish is absolutely heartbreaking.

Canadian Running Magazine detailed just how horrible the man’s experience was.

“Fog and snow on the course caused him to get confused. While he was supposed to be running the final lap in a counter-clockwise direction, he tagged the gate having come the opposite way. It was quite a somber atmosphere at the finish line with plenty of spectators crying.”

The real story of Robbins’ running the Barkley is deeper than six seconds. He got lost during the race and did his best to get back on course, but ended up missing two miles as a result. He would have been awarded a “DNF” even if he finished under time because of the mistake, but he was told at the end that he missed the cut by six seconds, making it so much worse.

As a way to keep track of runners along the course they’re required to tear pages out of books along the course that correspond to their race number, as a way of ensuring they completed the course. Gary Robbins had all the pages in his possession, but admitted he was off course on the final lap.

Race director Gary Cantrell released the following statement about what happened:

“The Barkley is a footrace. It is not an orienteering contest, nor a scavenger hunt. The books are nothing more than unmanned checkpoints. The Boston Marathon has checkpoints, and you have to show up at all of them or you can be disqualified ... that does not mean you are allowed to follow any route you choose in between checkpoints. Now, the class with which Gary handled this terrible disappointment at the end of a truly magnificent performance ... that was exceptional, and is, in and of itself, a remarkable achievement. But he did not miss the time limit by 6 seconds. He failed to complete the Barkley by 2 miles.”

One man did finish in 2017: John Kelly of Washington D.C. Kelly completed the route in 59:30:53, arriving at the finish line wearing a plastic bag and an orange hat he scavenged off the course while freezing.

Now Robbins will need to wait another year for a shot to become the first Canadian man to complete the world’s most-ludicrous race. He’ll need to mail a piece of clothing to the race — that’s his entrance fee for being a non-finisher. Meanwhile, should John Kelly decide to run again his fee will be a pack of Camel cigarettes. That’s his reward as a finisher.