Barkley Fall Classic -- Frozen Head Park, TN -- 2017

There is a one-loop version of the Barkley Marathons called the Barkley Fall Classic (the "BFC"). The BFC is held in mid-September each year in the hills of Tennessee's Frozen Head State Park. If you have never heard of the Barkley Marathons you can get a good idea of what it is about by watching the following documentaries and videos:

1. The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young (Netflix or Amazon) 
2. Where Dreams go to Die (wheredreamsgotodie.com) 
3. The Year The Barkley Won | 2018 Barkley Marathons - YouTube 

The BFC is the "easy" version of the Barkley Marathons. Whereas the Barkley Marathons is a 5-loop, 100+ mile ultra with no course marking and a requirement to locate books along the course to prove that you followed the trail, the BFC is a one-loop "marked" race on essentially the same course.


The BFC has a marathon and a 50K option. Racers can only do the 50K if they get to the marathon finish in less than 9.5 hours. Despite the names of the two options, in 2017 the "marathon" finish would involve about 28.25 miles of running and about 9,000 feet of climbing. The "50k" would add roughly 8.75 miles and 2,500 feet of climbing (for a ball-park total of 37 miles and 11,500 feet). GPSs aren't allowed, so those numbers are a bit rough, but based on careful measurements from the map and double-checking with the distance and elevation tables in Frozen Ed Furtow's book on the Barkley (Tales from Out There), I think they are reasonably close to what was involved in 2017. Like the Barkley Marathons, the BFC changes somewhat each year, so expect the distance and climbs to be a little longer and a bit harder every year.

Gaurav Madan's "Map" of the Course

Registration is in October on Ultrasignup.com, and it sells out instantly. On September 10th, eleven months late, I signed up for the waiting list solely to get on Lazarus Lake's mailing list (the race director) so that I would be alerted to next year's signup. I assumed my chance of actually clearing the list was zero. Unfortunately, the next morning Lazarus offered me a slot in the race to be held Sept. 16th, five days after I got in. I accepted the slot. F**k.

Lazarus Lake Summoning People from the BFC Waiting List--

 by Phil Cuppernell

With no specific training for the race, I was simply aiming to do the marathon. I decided to do my best under the conditions and see how it went. I suspected it would be the hardest race I had ever attempted--and I was right. Even the marathon distance would really be a stretch for me. I am not a hill runner and I am not good at navigation, both of which are key to the BFC since the marking tends to be a bit iffy.

I made flight reservations that had me arriving in Knoxville at about 4:40 pm on Friday and renting a car for the drive to Wartburg, where the park is located. The race arranged for a spaghetti dinner (including a vegetarian option) and a viewing of the Barkley Marathons documentary at the local VFW. I couldn't have asked for a better pre-race event. I chatted with a few runners and at about 9 headed out to camp on the grounds of the VFW. There were about 50 runners camping there and it had a nice relaxing vibe.

The race started the next morning, a bit before sun up, but with enough light that headlamps were only required for about 30 minutes, if that. There were about five miles of utterly beautiful, easy running in the early morning cold. The trail followed the line in the middle of Gaurav's map from the start/finish to the WTF point. It then headed downhill along the Spectacle Testicle trail to the dead dear. This was a slippery sliding mud covered trail underneath an old utility easement in which long periods of butt sliding were absolutely required. I was amazed at the length of the segment. Coming up it was almost laughably hard with long portions where everyone was on their hands and knees.

Runners Climbing Testicle Spectacle-- by Glenn Dell 

After that bit of fun there were a few more easy miles until we started the descent down the Methlab trail towards the prison. This was pretty similar to Testicle Spectacle with butt sliding, briars, and strange and disturbing smells. Once we got past that there were some easier trails and even a bit of road running as we approached the prison.

On the road towards the Prison

But at the BFC it doesn't stay easy for long. After a bit of fun running through the abandoned prison and climbing a ladder to get off of the grounds we started up Rat Jaw. This was another mud covered climb that required long sections of crawling on my hands and knees. It was the second hardest climb I had ever done. The first was the climb up Testicle Spectacle earlier that morning.

At the top of Rat Jaw

After that there was a bit of easier running and then two monster climbs up Bald Knob and Bird Mountain. Both of those (roughly the top left and side of Gaurav's map) were more conventional climbs with switchbacks that didn't require crawling and weren't too muddy. Unfortunately, at this point I was really no longer able to run--a fastish walk was about all I really had left. When I got to the decision point for the 50k, Laz told me I was a few hours late. Oh well. A marathon finish it would be. Here are my split times:

For comparison, I had run/walked a 30-mile race in Anchorage in about 6 hours a few weeks earlier. As a consolation prize all of the marathon finishers received a dog-tag commemorating the event. It was not easy, but it was fun and I think I'll be back to try that 50k.

In case you are curious, here is my gear list:


2 liter camelbak, gaiters, work gloves, headlamp, snacks, Ibuprofen, long sleeve technical shirt, Asics shorts, Drimax winter socks, Salomon speedcross 4 shoes, and vaseline. (Insect repellent and sun block went on before the race, but I didn't bring any with me on the course.)