Some 2021 Barkley Marathons Facts

1.  This year's entry fee (in addition to the $1.60 application fee) was a 12-pack of Moxie soda for the veterans of the race.  I share Lazarus Lake's love of Moxie, which I woukld describe as a mixture of root beer, cough syrup and motor oil.  For virgins, like Ron Moore, the entry fee was a license plate from where you were born.
   
   
   
2. The race started at 3:04 AM after the conch was blown at 2:04 AM.  I waited until about 2:15 or so to fall into the culvert and break my left 8th rib and my right wrist.  I did get to see Ron just before the start and he looked ready for it.
   
   
   
3. Only 4 chicken quarters were cooked by Laz himself and I think he was the only one to eat some.  The usual pot-luck dinner was canceled because of Covid.  The big cans of Bush's beans were on the fire for 2 days but only David Hughes (PSU 68) ate any that I saw.
4. It rained nearly 2 inches the day before the start, but stopped right at the time of the start. I slept well from 8:30PM until the sound at the conch at 2:04AM. The sound of pouring rain on a somewhat rain-proof tent is quite memorable.
5. Ron Moore had 3 liters of electrolyte solution in his backpack and consumed all of it by the time he returned to camp.  He ate 1 1/2 Chick-Fil-A sandwiches and various candies bringing his total calorie intake to near 2,000 during Loop 1.
6. I texted Ron's wife Patty Moore after my accident AT 4:00AM!  Sorry Patty, I was not of sound mind.
7. We got word of Ron's accident from someone on top of the climb known as Rat Jaw where a tower stands and there is the only water drop.  It is the only place where anyone can observe runners on the course, but are not allowed to help in any way.
8. Lazarus Lake practiced blowing his conch many times on Wednesday and had much difficulty with it.  The conch predates his creation of the Barkley and was purchased in Fort Myers.
   
   
9. Number of camp meals we cooked = 0  (Hardees, Taco Bell and Panera from outside the park)
10. The longest time anyone perused the official map of the course and marked their own was by Courtney Dauwalter, past winner of the Western States 100.  Quickest was just a few minutes by several veterans.  Ron Moore didn't take long either, as he knows the whole park quite well.
11. You are way more likely to encounter a wild boar than you are a bear in the Frozen Head State Park. People have started calling them cats leading to an internet meme, which is already triggering people.
    
    
    
    
12. The Campground in the park is very nice.
13. This year's event was held 2 weeks earlier than usual and started on Thursday instead of Saturday.  This was on purpose to keep the crowds from coming and off-setting the Covid Protocols that were put into place. But no one will ever know what comes next...
14. The only watches allowed on the course by runners is supplied by Laz following the blowing of the conch. No GPS, no altimeters.  This year's version was an analog watch in a pocket-watch style.  I wonder if any of the young runners did not know how to read a clock with a face?
    
    
    
15. The watches were set for last year's start, which never happened.  Laz needed to check each of them and reset those that were "off".  Only a few were off by more than a few seconds and the most was 25 seconds.  We had a long conversation about the Longitude Prize, the quest to provide accurate longitude navigation for ships in the 1600s and 1700s.  The prize was eventually won by a clock maker who made a watch accurate to within 6 seconds a month while onboard a ship.  All of Laz's watches would have won the Prize at a cost of $8 apiece.
16. More than half of the runners failed to complete 1 of the 5 loops required for finishing. Only 2 runners completed the second loop in time to start the third loop.
17. 3-time Finisher Jared Campbell and Luke Nelson each finished the third loop in time to qualify for a "Fun Run" but too late to go onto Loop 4.  No finishers this year.
    
    
    
18. The only thing anyone at the main tent for the pain of my broken rib and wrist was Tennessee moonshine, which I declined. And no one dared to touch Laz's Moxie.
19. Although Ron wore a ETSU ball cap for the run, he did wear his PSU Track Alum "Harry's Boys" wristband.