Barkley Dogs. Even One Named Barkley!

The man in charge of the Barkley Marathons, Lazarus Lake, is every bit of the eccentric stereotype one would expect.  But the man behind Lazarus Lake, Gary Cantrell, is nothing of the sort.

In real life he is a retired accountant who just completed a walk/jog across America.  His feat ended just the day before he had to be back in Tennessee for the recent Barkley Fall Classic.  It took him 126 days from the Atlantic Ocean in Connecticut to the Pacific in Oregon.  Read his daily posts...

Lazcon

Also, it turns out that Laz is an author.  When he found an abandoned dog that had been shot in the rural Tennessee mountains, he saved him.  After twice trying to find a suitable home for the dog, the dog kept finding his way back to Laz.  so he named him "Big" and published all his adventures in book form. 

The Big Dog Diaries: My Name Is Big (Volume 1)  

Big Adventures (Volume 2) 

Big Tails (Volume 3)

And even our very own Erwin Shroedinger Endowed Chair for Advanced Physics, Ron Moore got into the action.  At last years Barkley race, Ron couldn't run and was crewing for another when 5 puppies were found abandoned in the wilderness.  All were eventually adopted, with Ron taking one home which he named Barkley.  (I think several others share the same name!)

Barkley, center 2017.

Barkley 2018.