Runners

And with that plume of smoke, the runners are off. Just asthe last of them disappear from view, there is a loud crack.Five metres from the gate, a 30m-tall oak tree tilts andcrashes to the ground. The stunned silence is broken onlyby the sound of Laz cackling. “I wish that had happenedtwo minutes before the start!”``````When I meet Lazat his home outside Bell Buckle,Tennessee, three weeks before the race, he’s wearing af lannel shirt, and no doubt a pair of white socks underhisboots.HepuffsenthusiasticallyonaCamel.Aredbeanie embossed with the word ‘Geezer’ crowns his head.Hisface,apartfromhisbulging,bespectacledeyes,islargelyobscuredbyanunrulygreybeard.Inshort,helooks every inch the terrifying hillbilly, an image that’sdeepened by the presence of Big, his giant red pit bull,who seems to be considering whether my skull wouldfit in his mouth. Big had been shot and abandoned whenan idea. The slopes are so steep they look like they’refolding over and back down on you. A thick blanket ofdecomposed leaves hides rocks and fallen branches,and the bare trees turn the whole park into one utterlydisorienting panorama of brown.For 2017, Gary Robbins is the favourite to finish. Thepowerfully built mountain-trail specialist first ran theBarkley in 2016 and managed to get to the fifth loop, anincredible feat for a ‘virgin’. His red beard has its ownTwitter account, and he arrived with his own videographer.Behind him is Mike Wardian, fresh from runningseven marathons on seven continents in seven days.Then there’s neon-drenched ultra-running fixture Jamil‘Jam Jam’ Coury; Heather Anderson, one of six womencompeting, who crushed both the women’s and themen’s records for hiking the 3 523km Appalachian Trailunsupported; Anderson’s boyfriend, Adam Lint, a Barkleyveteran predicted to reach loop five; Mike Versteeg, whosmashed the record for the 1 336km Arizona Trail runby six days; and Johan Steene, a Swede who runs 240kmin 24 hours for fun. There’s a rescue swimmer, a ZenHimalayan adventurer, and half a dozen Frenchmen.Each of the 40 competitors – Laz caps the group at thisnumber – has been chosen for his or her particular skillset. It’s like The Dirty Dozen meets Chariots of Fire. Orshould that be Deliverance?On the Friday before the race, the weather is lookingfavourable. Robbins predicts that four runners will startloop five, the most ever. “It’s true we’ve got some really fastpeople this year,” Laz says. “But, you know, speed kills.”So who does Laz think can finish the course? “Well,no-one seems to be mentioning John Kelly.”John Kelly is the local boy. His family has lived onthe edge of the park for 200 years. This is Kelly’s thirdBarkley. Last time out he was garroted by saw briars, thevicious 3cm-long thorns, which leftbleeding gashes across his neck. Bythe end of the fourth loop, he wasunable to recognize his crew, and hefell asleep 100m into the fifth loop.By 10pm the social bonfires havebeen extinguished and conversationhas quieted to a murmur. Up at theyellow gate, which serves as therace’s start and finish line, Laz islaughing and glancing at his watch.A deep, harsh note booms underthe trees. The conch has beenblown! Tents light up like colourfulmushrooms. It’s 12:42am onSaturday 1 April. It’s cold, drizzling,and there’s fog. Fog is the worstweather to have at the Barkley,far worse than rain or snow.“Headlamps are no use – everythingturns into a wall of white,” Laz says.“Turn your headlamp off, and it’sa wall of black. Going to be a lot ofpeople not finishing loop one.”At 1:42am, instead of firing astarting pistol, Laz lights a Camel.“WE’VE GOTSOME REALLYFA ST PE OPL ETHIS YEAR.BUT, YOU KNOW,SPEED KILLS.”←GaryRobbins, the2017 Barkleyfavourite,descendsone of thecountlesssteep hills.``````↓Barkley raceorganiserLazarusLake, on hisown runningcred: “Iwasn’t veryfast, and Ididn’t haveoutstandingendurance,but I couldtake a lot ofpunishment.”``````JULY 2018 RUNNER’S WORLD 59