‘I’ve got to about 85% of solving the puzzle,’ says GB ultrarunner and RW columnist Damian Hall, as he reflects on two years of torment at the infamous Barkley Marathons. ‘I’ve had brilliant experiences [at the Barkley] but I’m frustrated with this year.'
For a second successive year, Hall made it the final 20-mile loop of the punishing 100-mile race in Tennessee that sees runners scaling the equivalent of two Everests, all while self-navigating a notoriously complex unmarked route through the woods – and ripping pages from books to prove they’ve done so correctly.
Infuriatingly for Hall, in his foggy, sleep deprived-state, he once again found himself unable to locate a book during that fifth and final loop – leaving him too little time to locate the last of the books and get back to camp in time to make the 60-hour cut-off.
Despite his dejection and fatigue – having ran near-constantly for three days – Hall decided to stay out on the course a little longer, collecting a few more pages and recceing some of the route to improve his knowledge of the course.
He then headed back to camp where he witnessed history being made, as he watched his friend Jasmin Paris charging towards the mythical yellow gate, which marks the race's finish line, becoming the first woman ever to finish. ‘I forgot all about my own self-pitying when I saw that amazing moment,’ he says.
We caught up with Hall to find out more about the highs and lows of this year’s Barkley, what exactly happened on loop five and why the race's cocktail of gruelling elements makes finishing it only just possible...
How did your second attempt at the Barkley play out this year?
It was a little different this time in that, when you do it for the first time, there’s this sense of novelty and awe that overrides how hard it is a little bit, whereas this year that novelty had gone, and so I was thinking: this is really hard.
We started at about 5:15am, and it’s dark and there's a big group of us. Normally, the race spreads out a lot earlier. So, when we got to a book, it was quite a squabble to get your page. Me and John [John Kelly] agreed we didn't really like being in a big group, so later on, we pushed away a bit, and we were down to a group of about six when we came back in. We turned around in about 10 minutes and went back out the other way. It starts to get a bit hazy about who was with us and when, but I think there was four of us quite a lot of the time, including Jasmin [Paris], Ihor [Verys] and John [Kelly]. The next loop went well, as well, and when we did make small mistakes, we were correcting them quickly.
The third loop – I honestly can't remember if it was light or dark by this point – was going well. At some point, I remember it being dark, and the group was spreading a bit; John was up ahead and Jasmin was at the back. And I felt really torn about who to run with. For a while I did stay with Jasmin and she kept saying, ‘Don't wait for me!' But, really, to be honest, I'm not much help to Jasmin, she's more help to me!
Loop four was where things started to fall apart, due to the lack of sleep. Some hallucinations were sneaking in – I just remember I kept seeing dogs and little ears poking up. It was me, John and Ihor and we were starting to make mistakes and we were losing time. I lost them towards the end of that loop. But I'd sort of, in my tired state, stopped trusting them. Even though they'd done most of the nav, I was like, ‘No, it can't be that way.’ Turns out it usually was!
Then for the final loop John had really kindly said that he didn't mind me going clockwise, which is easier than counter-clockwise, which was which was really nice of him. But in camp, the next runner was there as well, Greig Hamilton, and just as I was leaving, Jasmin came in as well, so it was all quite exciting. It's about four or five in the morning, we’re all exhausted but I got out.
The first book was fine. And the second book was when I made this mistake, and just didn't correct it quickly enough. I needed to go downhill, off a mountain, but off-trail into the woods. I was following a baring but I think I didn’t follow it faithfully enough and I knew I had to hit a river, but when I hit a river it was a different river. I was wandering around, at the bottom of the mountain, in the dark, on my own, thinking, "Oh, you've messed it up again." I needed about 10 hours for the rest of the loop but I only had eight.
But daylight arrived and I found that book and then found some more, but then just wandered around feeling a bit tired, so I had a sleep, but also thought, I’ll try and make good use of these last few hours, so recced a bit more of the course.
Then I came back to camp. And that was actually pretty emotional because the people at camp knew I hadn't completed it, but they still gave me an amazing reception. But then, the first thing I asked was, ‘Where's Jasmin?'
Explain the moment Jasmin came into camp...
Well, she wasn't in when I got back to camp and most of us thought she didn't really have enough time. So we're waiting, just looking at our watches. Then someone shouts, ‘Runner!’ And we look down the road but it's actually not a runner, it's John Kelly’s son wearing a red top like Jasmin, and he’s just running around, waving his arms and we were saying: is he trying to tell us something? Then round the corner comes Jasmin, and she's got about three minutes [before the cut-off] and is really going for it. Her skin was sort of this grey/yellow colour and her eyes looked almost inhuman. When she got there she just collapsed over the gate. We were a little bit worried because she did sort of collapse. But she had a can of Coke and was a lot better. It was just incredible to witness, and I forgot all about my own self-pitying when I saw that amazing moment. It was just complete euphoria, really, and shared by everyone at camp.
As a good friend of Jasmin's, what did it mean to you to watch her make history?
I met Jasmine in 2015, at the Dragon’s Back Race, that she was second overall and beat me quite comfortably. And we've been friends since ever since, and I've coached her for many years, but even if I hadn’t coached her and wasn’t her friend, I still would have been thrilled, as so many people are.
Just as a fan of the sport you want equality, you want to see women doing as well as men, so it’s incredibly inspiring just as a fan, but knowing Jasmin well and coaching her, I know what it means to her. I know what she’s been through, I know how much training she’s put in. And we shared an Airbnb when we were over there, so to see what it meant to her after was incredibly special.
Can you put into words how hard the Barkley is and what it is that makes it so hard?
The Barkley is definitely the toughest 100-mile race there is and only 20 people in well over 30 years have ever finished. It’s a combination of things but I think it starts with the terrain. There’s so much vert – it’s two UTMBs or two Everests – so that really slows you down. It’s really challenging terrain, it’s all off-trail, it’s woods, it’s rocks and tree branches break in your hands all the time. The cut-offs aren’t generous at all; they’re designed to give you only just enough time. But the other thing is, you’re self-navigating, so mentally you’re getting more fatigued more quickly. It's this cocktail that makes it only just possible.
How much sleep did you get during the race?
I didn’t sleep at all [from Wednesday morning to Friday afternoon]. There wasn't time. But when I knew my race was over, I had a sleep, and I’m not sure if that was for 10 minutes or two hours, to be honest. On the Wednesday, not only did we start at five in the morning, but we woken up at 3am by a car alarm, which we all thought was Laz blowing the conch [which marks one hour until the race starts]. So everyone got up at 3am, and started getting ready, and most of us would have been nervous after that, tossing and turning. So, yes, by Friday afternoon, I was ready for a snooze.
How do you cope with the sleep deprivation?
I'm hopefully getting better at it. The trick, I think, is to first of all think: am I fuelling enough? Because so often, by that stage, you’re just under-fuelled. So: fuelling, hydration, caffeine. If you’re on top of all three, and you’re still struggling, you might need to try a power nap. But you're given these brand new, cheap watches, and you think: will the alarm work? Has it got an alarm? So the previous year, John and I fell asleep on a book, so that the next person would wake us up. Because the fear is, you fall asleep for hours and that has happened to people.
How was your first proper sleep in a bed after the race?
Yeah, that was nice. It would have been Friday night, I think. I had a nice shower. We had pizza. Jasmin still couldn’t talk but she had some and we were all relatively early to bed.
What sort of thing did you eat during the race?
There’s always a couple of gels in my pack, but I don’t really want to use them much. My secret thing is: bagels with hummus, pickle, avocado and vegan cheese. Personally I like more real food and more savoury options. I also had wraps with nut butter and banana, Veloforte bars, salt and vinegar Hula Hoops, vegan KitKats. Liquid calories as well, a lot of smoothies actually: fruit juice, Cola.
What is it about the Barkley that makes it so compelling for you?
Partly it’s due to the wonderful community around it. It sounds like such a tough race but people are very supportive and very helpful, and that’s lovely. But also, for me, it’s this sense of it being a puzzle. I’ve got to about 85% of solving the puzzle and it’s really tantalisingly to me that it seems possible, and that’s really compelling.
Will you be back next year?
Well, that won't be down to me necessarily. And I wouldn’t be able to say whether I’m in. But I’m keen. I’ve had brilliant experiences [at the Barkley] but am frustrated with this year and keen to make amends.
