anotherturn

    A message from the RD of The Barkley Marathons #bm100:

    i wish i had never said 6 seconds...

    gary had just come in after having run off course
    and missing the last 2 miles of the barkley.
    that is, of course, not a finish.

    i do, however, always record when runners come in,
    whether they are finishing a loop, or not.
    so, i had looked at the watch,
    even tho there was no possibility that he would be counted as a finisher.

    so, when someone asked if he had gotten in before the limit;
    i foolishly answered.

    i never expected the story to somehow become that he had missed the time limit by 6 seconds.
    he failed to complete the course by 2 miles.
    the time, in that situation, is meaningless.

    i hate it, because this tale perpetuates the myth that the barkley does not have a course.
    the barkley is a footrace.
    it is not an orienteering contest,
    nor a scavenger hunt.
    the books are nothing more than unmanned checkpoints.

    the boston marathon has checkpoints.
    and you have to show up at all of them or you can be disqualified...

    that does not mean you are allowed to follow any route you choose between checkpoints.

    now, the class with which gary handled this terrible disappoinment
    at the end of a truly magnificent performance...
    that was exceptional,
    and is, in and of itself, a remarkable achievement.

    but he did not miss the time limit by 6 seconds.
    he failed to complete the barkley by 2 miles.

    laz