Athletics 2023 Discussion Thread

[heywoodu 11,877]

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the most insane running event in the world has happened this week. The infamous Barkley Marathons, where nobody knows exactly when it'll start, the athletes hunt for pages in books, the race consists of 5 laps for which you've got an average of 12 hours per lap and which, in more than three decades, only 15 people had ever even finished. With finishing being the goal, not 'winning'.

 

It's been a few incredible days, with four people (!) entering the 5th and final loop and a historical day...three of them finished!

 

Aurélien Sanchez  finished overnight in 58 hours and 23 minutes, followed by John Kelly  roughly 20 minutes later (until last night, Kelly was the last finisher, when he got there in 2017).

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

Belgian ultrarunning legend Karel Sabbe, who holds all kinds of insane records, finished in his second attempt with 6,5 minutes left on the clock!

 

Spoiler

 

 

For those who aren't aware of the Barkley, read about it, to grasp how insane the act of finishing the race even is. Just....RIP to everyone who's invited to compete next year (roughly 40 well-known and very much proven endurance/trail runnners), because the organizer makes the course a bit harder every time there's a finisher, since apparently it was too easy. Let alone the year after a triple finish, that hasn't happened before...

Edited March 17 by heywoodu

[Biathlonfan 47]

so a scavanger hunt and not athletics basically,got it,doesn't really sound like ''real world'' but whatever you say man 

[Grassmarket 1,698]

1 hour ago, Biathlonfan said:

so a scavanger hunt and not athletics basically,got it,doesn't really sound like ''real world'' but whatever you say man 

Modern athletics began, partly, with these kind of eccentric British hare & hounds races in 19th Century, (combined with much drinking & betting) so I don’t disrespect them.  Wouldn’t be queuing up to watch the live stream though.

Edited March 18 by Grassmarket

[Biathlonfan 47]

21 minutes ago, Grassmarket said:

Modern athletics began, partly, with these kind of eccentric British hare & hounds races in 19th Century, (combined with much drinking & betting) so I don’t disrespect them.  Wouldn’t be queuing up to watch the live stream though.

I mostly responded since he decided to laugh at your previous post,and then claimed that this is somehow ''very important real world news'',no real disrespect towards the event.

[Jinzha 301]

On 3/17/2023 at 7:15 AM, heywoodu said:

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the most insane running event in the world has happened this week. The infamous Barkley Marathons, where nobody knows exactly when it'll start, the athletes hunt for pages in books, the race consists of 5 laps for which you've got an average of 12 hours per lap and which, in more than three decades, only 15 people had ever even finished. With finishing being the goal, not 'winning'.

 

It's been a few incredible days, with four people (!) entering the 5th and final loop and a historical day...three of them finished!

 

Aurélien Sanchez  finished overnight in 58 hours and 23 minutes, followed by John Kelly  roughly 20 minutes later (until last night, Kelly was the last finisher, when he got there in 2017).

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

 

Belgian ultrarunning legend Karel Sabbe, who holds all kinds of insane records, finished in his second attempt with 6,5 minutes left on the clock!

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

For those who aren't aware of the Barkley, read about it, to grasp how insane the act of finishing the race even is. Just....RIP to everyone who's invited to compete next year (roughly 40 well-known and very much proven endurance/trail runnners), because the organizer makes the course a bit harder every time there's a finisher, since apparently it was too easy. Let alone the year after a triple finish, that hasn't happened before...

The Barkley Marathon is such a weird niche in the world of sport and I'm incredibly intrigued by the concept, and the crazy endurance athletes that survive their attempts at it every year. The various youtube and Netflix documentaries are all recommendations. I can barely fathom that people are actually out there doing these survival challenges like the Barkley, Marathon des Sables, Moab 240, Tor des Geants and various others. They make running the 100-mile Ultra Trail de Mont-Blanc look like a piece of cake.

 

There was a great attempt by  Jasmin Paris this year as well, who became I believe the first woman to complete four loops.

[Olympian1010 4,669]

6 hours ago, Biathlonfan said:

so a scavanger hunt and not athletics basically,got it,doesn't really sound like ''real world'' but whatever you say man 

It’s the basically the pinnacle of ultra-marathoning in the United States. All our big running media outlets cover the race.

[Cinnamon Bun 152]

Marathon Super Sunday kicks off in a couple hours, close to 10 B+ marathons in 1 day that all contribute to Olympic qualification.  

[heywoodu 11,877]

1 hour ago, Olympian1010 said:

It’s the basically the pinnacle of ultra-marathoning in the United States. All our big running media outlets cover the race.

Not only in the US, ultras like the Marathon des Sables (which are insanely hard!) are widely considered peanuts compared to the infamous Barkleys  

Edited March 18 by heywoodu

[heywoodu 11,877]

1 hour ago, Cinnamon Bun said:

Marathon Super Sunday kicks off in a couple hours, close to 10 B+ marathons in 1 day that all contribute to Olympic qualification.  

Which are the biggest ones in terms of top athletes competing, mostly Rome I think?

[Cinnamon Bun 152]

6 minutes ago, heywoodu said:

Which are the biggest ones in terms of top athletes competing, mostly Rome I think?

I'd probably say Barcelona, although Rome may have more Eastern European interest. Seoul will be very Asian heavy, and I can also see the South American races have a few big names. Can't find any entry lists online, which is quite surprising at this stage. I can only find one stream too, it's for the Barcelona Marathon which is on Eurosport.     

Edited March 18 by Cinnamon Bun