While reading the recent update of something I like to follow about all things running, I couldn’t help but notice the results from this year’s Barkley Marathons. The winner was…the Barkley Marathons. Yes, you read that right. The event beat the contenders. Again. Renowned as the toughest ultramarathon race around, the Barkley Marathons involves running 5 times around an unmarked course completely off piste through the mountains in the state of Tennessee. With nothing to guide you but a map, a compass and your wits, it is not for the faint-hearted. Since the course was made even more difficult and was stretched to the current ‘100 mile’ distance in 1989, there have only been 15 finishers and the most recent was in 2017.