Nobody finished the 2025 Barkley Marathons

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The 2025 Barkley Marathons is over, with no finishers and just one Fun Run completion by the U.S.’s John Kelly.

Going back a year, the 2024 Barkley Marathons saw a record number of finishers — five in total, including Jasmin Paris (U.K.), the event’s first-ever female finisher. This unprecedented result left many speculating that the 2025 Barkley Marathons course would be the hardest yet — and that expectation appears to have been met.

The Barkley Marathons is an unmarked ultramarathon at Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee, consisting of five 20-plus-mile loops — past competitors report covering up to 26 miles on a single loop. Navigation by GPS is not allowed, and runners must use a map and compass to navigate to locations on the route and collect pages from hidden books in lieu of a more traditional dibber system. The route and book locations vary from year to year, and over time, race organizers purportedly make the race more difficult to finish.


In order to be awarded an official finish, runners must complete the five loops in less than 60 hours. Runners who don’t make the interim cutoffs to continue on for a full finish still have the opportunity to complete a Fun Run, if they can finish three loops inside of 40 hours. This year, this seemed about as much as anyone could aspire to.

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