I have discovered the single greatest sport achievement of all time.

Here's the story of the closest finish in the greatest test of human stamina.

Only minor news updates are being reported in public health news, so I’m holding off on that and sharing one of my favorite stories today. Behind the scenes, I’m working on a “master post” for you, so hang tight as it’s time-consuming to do it right.

I appreciate you’ve made room for me in your inbox! I recommend this post as a nice evening read, given that it’s 100% happy news.

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You might wonder why the bedbound, chronically ill writer is talking about a niche race in Tennesee today. I assume it’s a reverse psychology situation, but maybe it’s related to my love of the Olympics. As humans, we often become fixated on opposites, and part of me wishes my body would still let me be a runner.

However we got here, this is the best sports story of all time. It involves an ultrarunning challenge known as the Barkley.

Imagine for a minute that you are about to run the Barkley. You and about 40 hand-selected people will attempt to run five loops of 20 miles in under 60 hours on an unmarked course in the Tennesee woods with little more than a compass and paper map. To provide context for the pace you’d need to maintain to finish on time, picture taking a leisurely stroll around the block after a hearty Thanksgiving dinner. You walk about 1 mile, and it takes a little over a half hour. That’s the approximate pace you are running up and down steep mountains for 2.5 days straight on a course that isn’t even a properly cleared trail. The course covers 100 miles with 30,000 feet of elevation change in both directions. Total elevation = cruising altitude of a Boeing 737 + the height of Mount Everest. The race might be 100 miles long, but it’s also 5.5 miles up and down. You are navigating rain or shine at night when you can only see a few feet ahead of you and with no sleep.

Most of the race is unaided, but you have two water stations along the course and a little support at the main gate after every lap. Don’t even think about cutting corners. You must rip out a specific page from each of roughly 10 books scattered along the course and return each one to prove you’ve visited each checkpoint. Getting lost is so common that you might end up dropping out like the 30 competitors who never made it to the first book only two miles in. The attrition rate is 98%. Once you tap out, a bugler sends you on your way by bellowing taps into the woods. For most of the course, it’s just you, the trees, and the sound of your soggy, squishy shoes.

That’s the Barkley.

Only 20 people have ever finished the Barkley in its 39-year history, although the race hasn’t been run every year. I ended up down this Barkley rabbit hole because a college classmate was one of those finishers. John Kelly finished the race an astounding three times. While watching his progress last year, I became part of the entourage that was virtually cheering on Jasmin Paris, aka #smalleuropeanwoman. Jasmin was in a position to become the first woman to finish the Barkley, a feat the founder famously said wasn’t even possible.

What kind of person comes up with a race this difficult? That would be Gary Cantrell (aka Laz Lake), an avid and extremely talented ultrarunner. He and a friend known as "Raw Dog” were inspired by the 1977 prison escape of James Earl Ray (MLK Jr.’s assassin) from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. Ray escaped for only 54 hours and only made it eight miles from the prison. Laz thought: I bet I could go 100 miles! (He could and did.) And that’s how the race was born. Laz changes the course each year, even making the race a bit harder each time someone finishes to ensure it continues to push the limits of human ability.

Like Laz, the Barkley also has plenty of endearing quirks that sound like they were decided by choosing random words from the dictionary. The entry fee? For virgins: $1.60, a license plate from your home state, and an essay titled "Why I should be allowed to run the Barkley". Returning runners must submit a pack of camel cigarettes as part of their entry packet. The race doesn’t have a website, and race application instructions are a guarded secret. Competitors hardly know the race date in advance. Those whose applications are accepted are issued a “letter of condolence.”

The Barkley history of the Barkleys is filled with close calls, some of which are unbelievable in the “quite literally unable to be believed” way.

“In 2005, the same year he set a speed record on the Appalachian Trail, Andrew Thompson got to a book drop partway through loop five and was so out of it that he forgot why he was there. He walked back to the park entrance and called it quits.” - Ariella Ginzler for Outside

Andrew did complete the Barkley four years later.

But the most heartbreaking story involves Gary Robbins, who was disoriented by fog and made a wrong turn in the homestretch. He reached the finish line a mere six seconds late and from the wrong direction. As he lay on the ground, he had one gasp of energy left in his soggy, shivering body to say, “I have all my pages.”

Oof. Poor Gary.

Now that you understand the Barkley race, you’ll be able to appreciate the athletic feat of Jasmin Paris finishing it last year. Four finishers had trickled in over the last few hours. Jasmin was in the final stretch of Loop 5, but given her earlier splits, it was nearly impossible for her to make up the time. She had less than two minutes left to make it to the gate.

Having just finished his own race, John Kelly described waiting at the finish line, hoping to see her emerge from the woods.

“When we crossed paths on loop 5 & I did the math in my head, the odds for her were very bad. After I finished & heard how far behind she was at the fire tower, the question was how long over the cutoff she would unfortunately be. Nevertheless, she persisted. As the last few minutes of hope disappeared, my oldest son was the 1st to spot her moving through the woods towards camp. Someone dismissed it as just a kid saying things. When she emerged, Jared & I started frantically looking between each other, our watches, & her willing her broken body up the road. @garyrobbins, who has the most heart breaking near finish at Barkley & returned this year to crew me, stood behind us. My daughters were there watching. Thank you Jasmin, for showing them what I never fully could.”

Jasmin finished with 99 seconds to spare to the sounds of cheering and the tears of a small group of patient spectators. A minute and a half might not sound like a close call, but that’s because our little dinosaur brains can’t comprehend how long the race really is. That’s less of a margin than a really narrow buzzer-beater by a significant margin. She was the underdog who sunk the buzzer-beater during the championship game of March Madness from the opposite baseline. She told the NY Times, “The final minutes were so intense, after all that effort, it came down to a sprint uphill, with every fiber of my body screaming at me to stop.”

Fellow Barkley runner Damien Hall said, “It was the greatest sporting achievement I’ve seen in the flesh.”

Jasmin Paris at the finish line in 2024 | Howie Stern

Gary Robbins (the same Gary Robbins who missed his finish by six seconds) was there to see it in person too. “Paris, never in doubt! For the second time in the history of the Barkley Marathons, a Brit has shown the world that a finish is possible. I cannot believe how fortunate I feel to have witnessed one of the greatest days in ultra-running history firsthand today. Congrats to the guys too, I guess: Ihor Verys, John Kelly, Jared Campbell, and Greig Hamilton.”

Here is Laz with Jasmin, eating his words:

It’s been a year since her iconic win.

Tonight, I’m refreshing the official Barkley account (Keith’s social media) because the Barkely is now underway. The 2025 runners have now been on the course since lunchtime Tuesday. It’s been about 40 hours since Laz lit the ceremonial cigarette to start the race. Jasmin is not running this year but John is in the field. Some runners are referred to only by their nicknames, such as “Back To the Future Guy,” “nondescript guy with a cool accent,” or my favorite, “the human sacrifice.” Bluesky posts have been trickling in from Keith with amusing anedotes so far:

As I write this, it’s 2:23 a.m. Thursday morning, and three runners are left. John is one of them. We already know none of them have made the cutoff time to attempt Loop 4. Anyone who can finish Loop 3 within 40 hours will be credited with finishing the “fun run.”

There are 15 minutes left to go for the fun run. Barkley is known for close finishes, but it’s looking grim. The winds are blowing at 50 miles per hour. There is steady rain and Keith describes the weather as “intense.” As time passes, everyone is waiting for evidence of a runner’s light in the distance. Five more minutes goes by and it’s not looking good.

Then a new post appears.

He may not have finished the Barkley, but John Kelly finished the fun run with 10 minutes to spare, cementing his place in Barkley history. Sébastien Raichon arrived before the cutoff but did not complete the entire loop. Tomozaku Ihara is still on the course as I click publish tonight and will be forced to tap out as well. Despite having no finishers this year, the Barkley still delivered a hell of a race.

But I still don’t think it tops Jasmin’s incredible feat last year.

Sometimes, I feel like I’m living in an alternate reality from those who can exercise, never mind those who take it to extremes. The other night, I had a dream I was walking through Trader Joe’s on my own two feet, getting to choose my own new snacks from their constantly rotating collection. I haven’t done that simple task in a year and haven’t run a half marathon in over a decade. I cannot imagine sitting in a chair long enough to watch the Barkley, never mind running it. But the thrill is still there for me.

Resting as much as my body requires its own extreme form of self-discipline, which might be why I love watching the Barkley so much. In a way, I feel like I have more in common with them than casual athletes.

Thanks for joining me for “Rabbit Holes with Jess.” The Barkley: now that’s a thing you know about.

I’ll see you soon with an update on measles, flu, COVID, and whatever else you need to know. Click here for the latest update I sent out about all that.

Update: A new documentary was just released about Jasmin’s Barkley finish!