Barkley Fall Classic 2018 Race Report

Ed Shelton

Barkley Fall Classic 2018 Race Report – “Some Win, Some Whine, Some Stay Home”

Going into 2018, I picked three races as my goal races:

  1. Jackalope Jam 72hr Race by Trail Racing Over Texas in Feb 2018 (Race Report)
  2. Infinitus 250 by The Endurance Society in May 2018 (Race Report)
  3. Barkley Fall Classic 50km in Sept 2018

The first two races were over 200 miles each, while the Barkley Fall Classic (BFC) was a mere 32 miles.  Yet, the BFC was probably the one I was most nervous about. I had run short versions of the other two races in past years, so I knew what to expect.  BFC was almost a complete mystery to me. Sure, you can find information about the course and race online and I know runners that have run it in the past, but I wanted to keep it “pure” and limit my information and expectations on the race.

I finished BFC 50km in 12:13:09.  It was a brutal race that took a toll on me from shredding the skin on my arms and legs to destroying my quad and calf muscles to keeping me on the brink of dehydration for over half the time.  I was under prepared for the BFC. The BFC shook me out of my comfort zone like no other race this year. A race that I am already hoping I can secure an entry for in 2019.

What is the Barkley Fall Classic?  The race you don’t want to run.

In 1986, Lazarus Lake held the first Barkley Marathon, probably the most difficult footrace on the planet.  Every year, Laz accepts 40 runners to start the Barkley Marathon (after a secret application process). At the time of this writing, only 15 people have ever finished it.  The race captured the attention of a mass audience, including myself, after the release of the documentary on the 2012 race called “The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats its Young.”  

The Barkley Fall Classic, aka “The Baby Barkley,” is very similar to the Barkley Marathon yet very different.  To put it another way, do you want a taste of the Barkley Marathon? Then, the Barkley Fall Classic may be for you.  While I have never done the Barkley Marathon, I have read race reports, listened to racers, and have talked to people that have run it in the past.  As best I can tell, if the Barkleys were beer: the Barkley Fall Classic is a Bud Light and the Barkley Marathon is bourbon barrel-aged stout. Meaning if a Bud Light (BFC) knocks you on your ass, then don’t even bother ordering the stout (Barkley Marathon).  If you finish the BFC, you are still not ready for the Barkley Marathon. Don’t misunderstand me when I call the BFC a Bud Light, that is only in comparison to the Barkley Marathon. The BFC is not easy and the majority of runners don’t finish it.

What do you get with 2018 Barkley Fall Classic (that you might not get with the Barkley Marathon)?

  • A minimally marked course
  • Aid stations – With snacks and worked by volunteers and the local high school football team
  • ~400 other racers
  • Known start time
  • A sweet welcome pack/race bag filled with:
    • Cloth map of the course (with some markings)
    • Compass
    • Emergency Whistle
    • 2 bandaids and 2 alcohol wipes
    • Morgan County Chamber of Commerce flyer
    • MoCo Survival Guide (outlining all the things on the trail that could kill, maim, or attack you)
    • Race Bib
    • A toy hornet
    • A Dum-Dum lollipop (because you are dum-dum for signing up for this race)
    • T-shirt

The BFC might be my favorite welcome pack/race bag I ever received.  The combination of useful items, useless items, and ironic items was superb.

Before the Race: Registering, The Rules, & Training

I was on the BFC 2017 wait-list.  This got me special access to about 150 spots for the 2018 race that they opened early for 2017 wait-listers.  The early entry opened on either a Friday or Saturday late night (can’t remember). I do remember the timing was past my bedtime, so AJ and I stayed up late to try to get in.  Once the time came, the invite link on ultrasignup.com went live and website was barely functioning under the weight of the runners trying to get in. It reminded me of trying to get concert tickets in the early 2000s – staying up late, frantically hitting the refresh button on more than one computer, getting excited to see a page load, only to see it fail when the next button was hit.  After about an hour of trying, I was able to get through and reserve my spot. I took a screenshot of the confirmation page and hoped that I would still have a spot in the morning. As UltraSignup recovered, my registration had been confirmed and I was officially signed-up.

The months and weeks passed leading up to the BFC, I made a decision to keep my exposure to race information to a minimal.  I would only read the official race emails that came in, to make sure I had the important information. Other than that, I reached out to AJ Juarez (a 2018 BFC finisher) with 3 simple questions.

  1. I am driving in.  When you went, did you camp on site?  Did you have to reserve camping beforehand?  Any advice for driving in?
  2. Do I need to bring a compass and map?
  3. Anything you wish you brough/packed?

AJ responded with super helpful information about driving in and camping.  He let me know that they would provide a map and compass. As for packing, he said pack like you would for a longer race – the stuff they will have at the aid station is probably not stuff you are used to.

The Rules: The BFC is unlike other races (in case that was not obvious before now).  One of the unique aspects is that it comes with a bunch of rules. Some of the rules make sense, others are confusing, but like other races/events that I have done, it is best to follow the rules and not worry about questioning them too much.  At the end of the day, it does not matter why a rule exists, it just matters whether you follow it or not. Here are some of the rules:

  • No individual gu/gel packets.  Since this is one of my quick and easy sources of nutrition, I needed to find an alternative.
  • No GPS devices allowed.  GPS will get you banned from future races.
  • No poles until the drop bag point (about 22 miles into the race)

Training:  After I finished Infinitus 250, my training slowed down.  There are a lot of different reasons for this, but one major reason was that after Infinitus 250 I was tired.  I was tired of training hard. I still made sure I put in the miles of running every week and every month, but the miles were not super difficult nor did they push me very hard.  Add the Texas summer heat into the mix and I just wasn’t pushing myself. As it should be no surprised, this negatively affected my BFC race.

Still Pre-Race: Packing, Campsite, and a Dinner/Movie/Football Game Group Date

When I first thought about packing the the Barkley Fall Classic, I thought it was going to be difficult.  I was planning to drive, leaving the Thursday before the race and camping while I was there. As the race date got closer, I realized that packing for the race was going to be relatively easy.  This was a single day race with one drop bag allowed about 22 miles into the race. That meant, I only had to worry about packing enough nutrition and gear for the race, which was limited by the rules and what I could fit into my pack.  My only requirement was making sure I left enough open space in my car, in case I needed to sleep in it one night.

My race pack consisted of:

  • 2-liter hydration bladder
  • Nutrition: 15 individual block-gels in a ziplock, 1 granola bar, 1 stroopwafel, 1 nut-butter pouch, 2 Nuun tablets
  • Collapsible bottle
  • Mini body glide
  • Sunglasses
  • Hat
  • Rain Jacket
  • Mechanix Gloves
  • Headlamp

I kept my drop-bag minimal.  It contained some caffeinated block-gels, 1 granola bar, 1 nut-butter pouch, 2 caffeinated Nuun tablets.

Thursday morning before the race, I packed up my car and started on the drive to Wartburg Tennessee.  For me, the drive was going to be between 15 and 16 hours with stops. I decided to do most of my driving on Thursday, spend a night in a hotel, and continue on Friday.  The drive was easy. I found a nice hotel on the way, got a good dinner and good night’s sleep and was back on the road early Friday morning. I had forgotten that I would end up changing time zones, so I made it into town a little later in the afternoon than I had planned.  

The local American Legion was offering a place to camp with access to bathrooms and a shower.  The BFC is one of their annual fundraisers. There were only 2 tents there when I arrived. While I was setting up, Jason, another racer, arrived to set up camp.  I introduced myself and we started chatting. It turns out that not only did he also come in from Austin, but he lives about 5-10 minutes away from me. I am always surprised how small the world can be sometimes.  

After setting up camp, I went picked up some supplies at the local grocery store and went over to packet pick-up.  As a fundraiser for the American Legion and high school football team, there was an option to purchase tickets to a dinner, group movie viewing, Q&A with Laz and 3-time Barkley Marathon finisher Jared Campbell, and ticket to the local high school football game.  The game was special in that they were going to call the Barkley racers onto the field for a special introduction.

I picked up my race packet and went back to my car to check it out.  As I mentioned earlier, this is probably my favorite race welcome packet.  In my car, I checked out all the contents, examined the race map, and took some pictures of the contains to send back home.

I decided to hang out until dinner.  I was able to meet up with Chris and Joe, two of other Infinitus 250m finishers.  Chris, Joe, Jason, and I grabbed a spot together at dinner and chatted. I also saw one of my fellow Texas GRTs walk in, Melinda (aka Catnip).  I ran over and said hi to her. It turns out she was a BFC veteran, having both finished it and DNF.

As we all sat there waiting for dinner to start, I commented to Joe, also a fellow Death Racer, how much the scene reminded me of the team dinner before a Death Race.  There was a nervous energy in the room and everyone was exchanging strategies and closely studying the map.

As we were eating, Chris mentioned that he picked up a park map and was going to mark  the race map with the trails. Since that sounded like a good idea, I asked if I could borrow his map in the morning before the race to do the same.  He said sure.

After dinner was served, they started the movie: “Where Dreams Go To Die” – the documentary about Gary Robbins Barkley attempts.  Due to getting behind schedule, the Q&A with Laz and Jared Campbell was canceled. We headed over to the football field for the third part of the evening activities, a high school game.  If you know me, you know I have no interest in football. In fact, you could say I generally avoid it. And there I was standing watching a high school football game. My wife got a real kick out of that.

After the first quarter, they brought us onto the field.  It was pretty cool. We got to hear a quick summary of all the countries and states the different racers were from.  We also learned about the money the race raises for the local community. It was awesome to hear positive impact bringing in 400 racers plus crew for a crazy race has had on the community.  

 

Once we left the field, I got in my car and drove back to my tent.  I slept pretty well, although the environment did not make it easy. There was a flood light shining all night on the camping area plus there was a bell that rang the hour it was every hour all night.  As one of the other racers said, it felt like a victory when you realized that you slept through one of the hours.

 

Campsite at the American Legion

Race Morning

I was up early.  With access to a real bathroom, getting ready was easy.  Once I was ready, I had some ramen for breakfast, packed up my car, and drove over to the race.  I got there pretty early and was able to find Chris. He was able to mark up his map with the trail colors, but there was a whole section that was not on the trail map.  I was not surprised by that. I borrowed his map and marked up mine as well. Once I was done, I dropped off my little drop bag and started to wander around.

I heard someone call out my name.  It was Bryan. Bryan is another Austin-based racer who I have known for years through Spartan racers and the Lone Star Spartan group.  Bryan found out he got into BFC the Wednesday before the race. He managed to figure out a way, through a complex system of planes, rental cars, and buses to make it to BFC.  I was happy to see that he made it.

The Barkley Fall Classic

It Begins

After some much to say about the lead up to the race, if you think I am going to give a verbose description of the race – Sorry, I am not.  The Barkley Fall Classic is a special type of race, one that you can only understand by experiencing it. I am going to share my BFC experience, but not the details.  

I lined up in the front 10% of the corral.  The race started at 7am with Laz lighting his cigarette.  We were off. There were a lot of people pushing hard. One of the strategies I had heard was that you want to get to the single track ahead of the “conga-line.”  I kept a good pace, not my fastest but not slow. We turned off the road onto a single track. Laz told us about this part of the trail. He warned us, “If you don’t run that section, you will not finish.”  Since you can never really tell if Laz is serious, I took the trail at a quick pace – walking occasionally.

The trail was slick.  I took one tumble and had a lot of near misses.  Since we were not allowed GPS and I knew my pace would be slower than normal on the climbs, I was judging when to take nutrition based on time.  I had my first fuel about an hour and half into the race.

At about two and half hours in, I started to feel queasy.  I can’t say for certain if it was the blocks I ate earlier or something else, but I totally felt like throwing up.  I was able to drink water, but everything else was making me gag. This hit me hard mentally. I knew that if I could not eat or keep nutrition down my race would suffer.  I did not have a lot of variety of options on my person and I could not rely on what would be at the aid stations. It made me very nervous about the rest of the race.

I made it to the first aid station.  It took my longer than I would have liked, but I made it there without throwing up.  As I was leaving the aid station, I saw Bryan. He looked well.

The next part of the course should have been fast for me.  It was the kind of terrain I am used to. Everytime I tried to go fast, I started to feel sick and had to pull back.  Honestly, I was getting pissed off. Bryan caught up with me. We were able to chat for a bit. I told him what was going on with me and I found out he was having some troubles as well.  After a while, he took off ahead of me. Along this section, we kept leapfrogging each other until the aid station.

Testicle Spectacle

At the aid station, I saw everyone putting on their gloves.  I decided to fill my fill my collapsible bottle with water and one of my Nuun tablets.  With my pack and bottle filled, my bib punched, I was right about to start climbing when I realized that this was probably one of the best opportunities to pee.  I went off to the side and took care of business. I could see that I was not as hydrated as I would have liked, but nothing dangerous. As I was walking back, a dude called out, “Good idea.  Is that the bathroom?” pointing to the tree I was just at. I said yes and he jogged over there.

I hit the trail with my gloves on and started climbing.  I did not realize it at the time, but we were climbing “Testicle Spectacle.”  It was until I reached the top and one of the photographers said, “Welcome to the top of Spectacle” did I know where I was.  The climb was tough and had some briars, but i did not think it was too bad. Even though I still felt ill, some of my confidence came back.  Unfortunately, it was starting to get pretty hot outside.

The next aid station was outside the prison.  One of the kids there offered to pour water on my head to cool off.  I took him up on his offer. The only problem was that he was about 4 feet tall.  (I am 6 feet tall.)  So I had to bend over and get real low in order to get some water on me.  While I was at the aid station, I ran into Bryan again. He was also having some stomach issues.  One of the guys at the aid station overheard our conversation and said he had an ice cold Coke if we wanted it.  I passed on the offer, but Bryan took him up on it. I learned later from Bryan that that ice cold Coke may have saved his race.  It really brought him back.

After the aid station, we went into the Brushy Mountain Prison.  The route actually took us into the prison yard and had us climb over the wall with ladders.  I must admit, I have a small fear of lean to ladders. I took it cautiously. On the other side of the wall was Jared Campbell, punching bibs.  He pointed us to the tunnel under the prison and wished us luck on the hardest mile climb of our lives. He was not kidding.

Rat Jaw

I came out of the tunnel, climbed up to the trail, and saw what was ahead of me.  It was “Rat Jaw.” Due to the time of weather and recent rains, Rat Jaw was plush and green.  I could hardly see the racers ahead of me. Of course, the main plant that grows on Rat Jaw is the Smilax, aka “Saw Brier” and they were like 8 feet tall.  To add to the joy of Rat Jaw, it was completely exposed in the noon day sun. I actually thought to myself, “Well, this is going to suck.” I put my gloves on and started to climb.  

Rat Jaw took a lot out of me.  I mean a lot. I was dealing with a lack of nutrition, some dehydration issues (my calves cramped up hard coming down Spectacle), and I was under-prepared for the climb.  I had to keep taking breaks along the way. As I was hunched over resting, I just watched as people passed me. I don’t usually get passed after the first couple of miles during a race, so it was demoralizing to see so many pass by as I struggled to stay on my feet.  To add to the mental challenges of Rat Jaw, it has like 27 false summits. I may be exaggerating, but it was so many I stopped counting or getting excited when I saw what looked like a summit. I was not going to let Rat Jaw finish me, but Rat Jaw was determined to beat the crap out of me the whole way.  

After way too long (I don’t remember how long it took me), I realized I was nearing the end when I could hear and see volunteers and photographers.  When I finally emerged from Rat Jaw, my arms and legs were covered in scratches and blood. The saw briers are no joke. The worst ones were the ones that caught the top or side of my head.  Since this is the BFC, when you hit the top of Rat Jaw you are not done climbing. We had to get to the top of the fire tower to get our bib punched before moving on.

The 50k or Marathon Choice (if you make the cut-off)

After hitting the next aid station, where I ran into Bryan.  He passed me on the way up Rat Jaw and was taking a break at the aid station.  He looked rough (I probably did not look too good either). I briefly stopped to refill my water and was on my way.  I was actually beginning to get nervous about making the cut-off. I was pushing myself pretty hard, given the state I was in.  I was exhausted, dehydrated, and cramping up. I ended up falling a couple of times. Each time I fell, I landed on the same spot on my knee and hand and yelled out the F-word as I started t go down.  (I don’t tend to yell, so this kind of surprised me.) Each time I hit the ground, my calves and quads would seize up. I would punch them to loosen them up enough to get on my feet again. They were so bad, I could not actually use them to get up.  I was unable to bend them enough to get under me, so I would roll on my belly and push myself back up.

I rushed to the aid station.  I knew I would make the cut-off, but I was more concerned about the final cut-off.  I reach the aid station about 50 minutes before the cut-off. When I arrived, was offered a banana.  I actually thought this was joke; Laz wouldn’t give out bananas. I said yes anyway and got one. I was thrilled because I was pretty sure I could keep it down.  

This was the aid station with our drop-bags.  This was also the aid station where you could choose to continue on to finish the 50k or finish the marathon.  As Laz was punching my bib, he asked what I wanted to do. I said, “The 50k of course” with the biggest smile on my face.  I was genuinely happy at this point. I knew I could finish. It would be hard, but my confidence was back. Sure, it may have been the false confidence brought on by the banana, but it was working for me.

I took to the final section with a fast-paced walk.  One of the onlookers even commented, “That’s the stride of someone who is going to finish.”  I like to think that I probably looked like Jesus from the end of “Passion of the Christ” doing the “Saturday Night Fever” strut.  

I started the final section strong.  Passing people along the way. I had my mojo back.  That did not last too long. My body was done climbing, but BFC was not done making us climb.  I did not bring poles, but I did see a stick that would work as a walking stick (or cane). I grabbed it and  quickly modified it to suit my needs.

The climb was rough, even with my walking stick.  I had to keep taking breaks again, but I knew that this was the final climb.  I had a plan. Once the downhill started and was consistent, I would drop my stick and pick up my pace.  I did just that. I actually felt a little bad tossing my stick. I helped me so much, but going downhill it would get in my way.  I knew the stick would understand, its purpose was to help me and if I kept it would only hinder me. (By the way, when you are out running BFC with little to no nutrition experiencing dehydration, you can get a little punchy.)

On the final trails, I fell a couple of more times on the same spots on my knee and hand.  Once I made it off the trail and on the road, I knew the end was near. I checked the time, knew that I would easily make the cut-off but was disappointed with my time.  With the road being slick by the light rain that was falling, I did not want to risk falling again. I walked a fast pace until the final corral.

About a third of the way into the corral, I heard another racer enter behind me.  I thought, “You know what would be fun for me and the crowd? Seeing two people race for the finish.”  I picked up my pace a little, but let the guy catch up. I could hear him coming, he wanted to beat me.  As soon as he reached my side, I started to sprint and so did he. We sprinted to the finish to the cheers of the crowd.  I was awesome. I beat him by less than a second. Once we crossed the finish line, I gave him a high-five and thanked him for the final sprint.

All Done

I picked up my “Croix de Barq.”  The volunteers congratulated me and mentioned how they liked the final sprint.  They also commented on my bloody knee. As I was walking towards the drop bags, I saw Chris come over.  He was limping. He took a nasty fall early in the race and was pulled from the race by the medics. The injury sounded like it could be pretty bad.  We chatted for a bit, then I went back to my car.

I was exhausted.  I got my half gallon of chocolate milk and started drinking it.  I badly needed the hydration and calories. Everything was taking me too long to do.  I had originally thought about starting the drive back that night, but I opted for sleeping in the tent and leaving in the morning.

While I was cleaning up and drinking my chocolate milk, I saw Bryan come in.  I was stoked to see him finish. I was worried he wasn’t going to make the cut-off when I saw him at the aid station.  We chatted briefly, congratulated each other, and took a picture together. It was pretty awesome to see him so many times out on the race.  

I left and went back to the American Legion.  On my way, I stopped at the gas station to pick up more water and a snack.  While there, I ran into two other racers. We talked for a bit, unfortunately both of them did not finish.  

When I got to the American Legion, there was a group of racers and their crew hanging out.  As I headed to the shower, thankfully one of them told me that the Cold & Hot water faucets were reversed.  After cleaning up, I hung out for a bit. I got my alcohol wipes to clean my “Rat Jaw bites” and other scraps.  Watching me wipe down with alcohol provided a little comedy for the other runners. After cleaning my wounds, drinking a Gatorade, and snacking on a few pretzels I went to bed.

I slept well except for multiple pee runs during the night.  Which I was actually pretty happy about because by the morning, my urine returned to a health, non-dehydrated color.  I left early in the morning and ended up driving the whole way back the next day.

In Summary

The Barkley Fall Classic kicked my ass.  I was under-prepared for the climbs on top of fighting nutrition and dehydration issues.  I am thrilled I ran it. I can’t wait to go back and do it again. Here is to hoping I get in the 2019 Barkley Fall Classic.