The highly decorated Belgian ultrarunner, who is a dentist in his other life, is making his third appearance at the Barkley in 2019, he completed three loops (but was not credited with a fun run, since he attempted a fourth loop). In 2019, Laz speculated that if any woman could finish the Barkley, Paris might be the one. Paris shocked the ultra world in 2019 when she smashed the overall course record at Britain’s Montane Spine Race, finishing in 83 hours, 12 minutes, 23 seconds–while also pumping breastmilk for her infant daughter. Photo: Michael Doyle / Canadian Running Magazine.Paris made her Barkley debut in 2022, scoring a fun run (three loops in under 40 hours) she was the first woman fun runner since Bev Anderson-Abbs did it twice (20).

2022 would have finally been his chance to do so after three years of absence, but he has made the decision to withdraw because, as he said in his Instagram post, it’s “the right thing to do.” Gary Robbins and John Kelly after loop one of the 2017 Barkley Marathons.

Since his first attempt six years ago, it has been Robbins’ goal to become the 16th person in Barkley Marathons history to actually finish the race. The event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic and he didn’t compete in 2021. There were no finishers the following year, and in 2019, Robbins was injured unable to race. That year, the only finisher was John Kelly. In 2018, Robbins was the only fun run finisher, which means he completed three loops in under 40 hours. He made it to the fifth lap in his first two years and very narrowly missed finishing in 2017. Robbins has attempted the infamous race three times already, in 2016, 20.

Download barkley marathon 2021