100-mile Barkley Marathons defeat North Vancouver's Gary Robbins — again

One the toughest — and most unusual — running races in the world has got the better of North Vancouver's Gary Robbins, again.

It was Robbins' third attempt at the Barkley Marathons, a 160-kilometre race through the wilds around Frozen Head State Park near Wartburg, Tenn. A regular marathon is 42.2 kilometres.

The Barkley Marathons consists of five, 32-kilometre loops, which must be completed in 60 hours. The 2018 race began Saturday morning, but late Sunday, Robbins failed to complete the third loop in time to continue to a fourth.

In 2017, Robbins, who is a professional ultra-distance runner — meaning he trains for races between 80 and 160 kilometres in length — almost finished, but was six seconds over the time limit and had gone off course.

• North Vancouver runner's 100-mile race ends in confusion, heartbreak

In a video, Robbins is shown sprinting toward the yellow gate that marks the start and finish line. After tapping the gate, he falls back and collapses on the road.

Earlier on Sunday afternoon, Robbins was still in the race, running on the third loop while most competitors either abandoned the race or missed the time limit on the second loop, which was undertaken Saturday night in wet and stormy conditions.

Canadian Running Magazine, which has an editor at the race, says Robbins experienced some difficulties. His headlamp malfunctioned, he broke his hiking poles on the loop, and wrecked his map, making it hard to read.

It appears that Robbins missed the cut-off time by by 12 minutes.

The event was designed by Gary Cantrell, who was inspired by the story of James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1977, Ray escaped from the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary and ran through the woods for 55 hours before he was captured.

Not conventional

During the course of the race, participants are required to collect pages from books stashed along the route to confirm they passed through all the checkpoints.

There are other oddities. The official start is marked by race director Cantrell lighting a cigarette, a bugle player performs Taps each time a runner drops out, and the entry fee is US $1.60. 

In 2012, a film crew covered the race and produced the documentary, The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young.

Since then, the event has garnered international attention. The race has been completed just 18 times by 15 runners since it began in 1986.

Fans of the sport, and those interested in the limits of human endurance, followed the progress of the race on social media, where there are updates, photos and comments.