- [Male] I think Laz is crazy, but in a very good way.
I think he's very smart, I think he knows what he's doing.
- [Male 2] People think he's a sadist, or whatever.
- [Female] He's like my trail soulmate.
- [Male 2] Flare for the dramatic, I think.
- [Female] Bit of a sassy man.
(Laz laughs)
- [Narrator] Laz Cantrell,
a true backwoods rebel of Tennessee, created one
of the world's most grueling footraces.
One that is so challenging, it leads many
to assume it must be an act of sadism.
(Laz laughs)
Are you a sadist?
- No, no.
I think people are obsessed with comfort
to the point that they forget if you don't
have any discomfort in your life,
how do you know when you feel good?
The Barkley Marathons is a 100-mile race
comprised of five 20-mile loops,
which you have 60 hours to complete.
And so, there's some pretty rugged terrain.
It's got a massive amount of climb, about 66,000 feet.
You have just your map and compass.
It's cold, it's wet, it’s miserable, you're alone.
The fact that they’ll probably
almost certainly fail makes it more appealing.
This started in '85 and, uh, we have 14 finishers.
Are y'all about ready?
- [Female] You start the race with a cigarette light,
which feels very untraditional for most race starts.
- [Laz] Yeah, we always use a Camel because
that's about the best cigarette, I think.
- [Male] Yay team, go for it.
(crowd cheers)
- [Narrator] The course is located
in Frozen Head State Park,
home to the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary.
A location not chosen by chance.
(ominous music)
In 1977, James Earl Ray,
the man who killed Martin Luther King Jr.,
made headlines again when he escaped the prison.
In the 54 hours he was free,
he only made it eight miles from his cell.
Because this terrain is no joke.
- It donned on us; I thought man, you could put together
a racecourse that would really challenge people's soul.
I think every runner would like to do better
than James Earl Ray, and get further than eight miles.
Although, some of them don't (laughs).
Everybody gets a bid number for each loop.
There's paperback books, which are kind
of strategically placed so that to get
them all you have to follow the course.
And you pull out the page number that matches your bid.
You have to turn in your pages
to show you've done the course.
- He has a brilliant sense of humor.
He's parodying the sport of ultra-marathon running.
Those of us who run ultras, we have a certain egoism
that we think we're pretty good
because of what we can do.
And, so, he set out to puncture that balloon.
Laz keeps making it harder because he's trying
to put it at the limit of human possibility.
(bugle Taps)
- After they've decided that they've had enough
and quit, we play Taps on the bugle.
Both because Taps is what you play
for someone who's died in action,
and because they will be tapped-out.
- I think, genuinely in his heart,
he wants to see people succeed.
When people actually finish five loops,
and you see him at the end,
he's so excited.
(crowd cheers)
- When you have one or more of them comes in,
it's an inspiring thing.
It's hard to believe a human can accomplish that.
It's good that some years no one finishes
'cause The Barkley should win sometimes, too.