Not to be mistaken for an ultramarathon in the traditional sense, the Barkley Marathons features added “fun” like route-finding, hill-climbing, scavenging for books in the forest, and other weird challenges along the way. Runners must finish each loop in 12 hours to make the final 60-hour cutoff for the full course. “The Barkleys,” as it’s also called, is a series of five back-to-back marathons through a difficult maze of unmarked trails, with over 100,000 feet of elevation change and, of course, a time limit. The Barkley Marathons is hosted annually in Frozen Head State Park, Tenn.

In its 35-year history, Barkley Marathons has seen only 15 successful finishers.

British runner Jasmin Paris became the first woman in 10 years to complete the race’s “fun run” distance - three full loops. The race did offer up a silver lining, however. Greig Hamilton has not completed loop 4 and is over the time limit to begin loop 5. Hamilton, a few hours behind, lost his chance after he timed out before completing loop four. According to Canadian Running Magazine, around hour 40 of nonstop running and orienteering, Sabbe was found deliriously talking to a garbage can before the sheriff picked him up and returned him to camp.

Sabbe was reportedly making good time - knocking down three loops in just over 32 hours - before the wheels fell off. And as has happened so many times before, nobody finished.

Karel Sabbe and Greig Hamilton bowed out on their fourth loop of the 2022 Barkley Marathons, bringing to a close an especially grueling edition of the race. Barkley Marathons results: Once again, Lazarus and his dastardly race defeated all comers despite a formidable field of running ringers.

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