Barkley Marathons & more demonic Tennessee races

Sometime between midnight tonight and noon tomorrow (April 1, 2017), 40 daring souls will line up in Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee, for the start of the annual Barkley Marathons. A man will light a cigarette... and they will be off.

As for me, I'll be tied to Twitter and constantly refreshing #bm100 to find out what happens. Information is titrated out in tiny tantalizing tweets over the 60 hour duration of the race, by benevolent souls who might have time to share tidbits. And I'll try to piece together: Who, if anyone, will make 3 loops, the "fun run"? Who will make 4? Who will even START loop 5? Who will flame out spectacularly and who will just drop off, "tapped out" with nary a further mention? What will happen to Jamil Coury, who fell asleep on loop 4 in 2015 and finally came in hours after the cutoff, but with all of his book pages? What will happen to Gary Robbins, the Canadian contender who got all the way to loop 5 in 2016 before basically losing his mind due to sleep deprivation? How far will women get this year?

And also... who is the guy who runs this crazy race, designed to test the limits of human endurance and offer unlimited chances to fail?

That guy would be Lazarus Lake, also known as Gary Cantrell. And did you know the Barkley Marathons is just one of the ways he is influencing our understanding of human will and endurance?

There's also the Barkley Fall Classic 50k, which is a mini taste of the infamous Marathons and can actually be finished... by some.

In the Strolling Jim 40 runners earn colored T-shirts based on hitting certain set finishing times.

There's Big's Backyard. The rules are that runners complete the same 4+ mile loop every hour on the hour. The last person standing who completes the last loop is the winner. A personal recap can be found in the latest issue of Trail Runner DIRT magazine.

Then there's A Race for the Ages in Manchester, TN, the "return of the graybeards." The winner is the one who accumulates the most miles by the end of the timed race. People over the age of 48 are allotted the number of hours equal to their age to complete the event. So if you're 70, you get 70 hours. Those age 48 and under get the last 48 hours to complete their miles. The age-weighting gives an advantage to "superveterans" of the sport.

And there's also Vol State, a 500k race that goes diagonally across the entire state of Tennessee. You're basically on your own to make it across the state as quickly as possible (there is also a crewed option)... and it takes DAYS at the very least.

So I'm fascinated not only with the Barkley Marathons, but also with how Cantrell is expanding the way people think about running, racing, human endurance, failure, and even the meaning of life. Please check out his columns in Ultrarunning, which go back into the 80s when the magazine (and the sport) was just getting started.

Some favorite resources on the Barkley Marathons:

Twitter hashtag #BM100 during the race. Refresh refresh refresh!
This excellent & exhaustive site: http://www.mattmahoney.net/barkley/
The documentary on Netflix (just search "Barkley")
The documentary on Youtube
The eerie before & after photos by Geoffrey Baker

Barkers, quit now before this happens to you. Know where quitters road is, you'll need it  #BM100 #barkleymarathons #boundtofail #sufferfest pic.twitter.com/LHmakMhIgs

— Geoffrey S. Baker (@GeoffreySBaker) March 30, 2017

18 Miles in 20 photos: Sunday Long Run

Every Sunday, Goddess willing, I go for a long run. For the past 4 Sundays my training program has been VERY long runs (for me) of 16, 18, 16, and 14 miles. The first two were fine, but the last two of these did not go well. The weather had turned very cold again after a pleasant thaw, and my motivation and energy were seriously ebbing. Those 16 and 14 milers were executed with gritted teeth and a grumpy heart, which made me a little worried about today's run, another 18 miler.

I decided to mix it up today by making it a project. I took one photo every mile on the mile. Come with me on an 18-mile journey across Southern Vermont!

 

Starting at zero with snow in the background and bare branch reflections in focus. Last day of winter.

Mile 1: Heading north on Putney road

Mile 2: This is the "strip" near Staples/Peebles plaza

 

Mile 3: The left turn just ahead is Black Mountain Road (see small green sign), but I'm heading straight up Kipling Road toward the School for International Training

 

Mile 4: Here's Naulakha, the house where Rudyard Kipling lived briefly over 100 years ago. 

 

Mile 5: Going through a sugarbush (maple trees on both sides of the road are studded with taps & lines lacing them together), here's a sap gathering tank

Mile 6: Intersection of Middle Road and Dutton Farm Road in Dummerston, VT—this is Baker's Violin Shop

Mile 7: Dummerston Center, I'm just about to turn left at the church to head up East-West Road

 

Mile 8: Black Mountain Road—I hit its northern terminus after running up East-West Road for 3/4 mile. I'm now heading south again.

 

Mile 9: Still on Black Mountain Road, I just passed the trailhead to the "Little Black Mountain" trail. There were 6 cars parked there!

 

 

Mile 10: Black Mountain Road

 

Mile 11: Heading downhill on Rice Farm Road, about 10 miles of gradual gain unspools in 1-2 miles. I'm also now in the West River Valley and the temperature feels about 5 degrees colder.

Mile 12: Rice Farm Road runs north along the West River for about a mile

Mile 13: I crossed the Iron Bridge across the West River and am now heading south again on Rte 30

 

Mile 14: More Rte 30, the West River is on the left through the trees. This part is pretty boring, but it's also nice and flat.

 

Mile 15: More Rte 30, more West River

Mile 16: Rte 30, a little bit north of the Saxton's River Distillery and Fulcrum Arts gallery

Mile 17: Rte 30, Grafton Cheese shop is ahead (the red buildings)

 

Mile 18: Done! Except I decided to keep running the extra half mile home, because I can add it to yesterday's 7.5 miles and round out my weekly total.

 

18.5 miles covered a mere 205 minutes later!

It was a good run. My legs could have kept going, but my cardiovascular system was ready to stop!

Old Sturbridge Village, Winter break 2017

When I was little my parents sometimes took me to "living museums" to experience historical interpretations of America in the 1800s. You know the kind, with the ladies in bonnets and the ox-carts and the cheese-making demonstrations? Where I'm from, the nearest such museum was the Genesee Country Village & Museum near Mumford, New York. We typically went there on the 4th of July to visit the period houses, talk to the interpreters, and experience the cannon being fired and the fife & drum parade. I LOVED IT.

One winter my parents took me to a similar museum in Massachusetts, where we experienced old-fashioned maple sugaring, New England snow, and splinters from the rustic flooring. I also remember getting into an argument with a slightly older boy about the correct pronunciation of "Archeopteryx." I was 5, so he was probably 6 at most. (The dinosaur story may be slightly beside the point, but it's an early indicator of my didactic tendencies.)

Anyway, it turns out that in adulthood, I live a mere 90 minutes away from this second museum: Old Sturbridge Village in Sturbridge, Massachusetts. I LOVE IT. We've gone there for July 4 several times (more cannon firing!). This past 4th of July we were so charmed by it all that we became annual members, meaning we could go any time. So this past February on an unseasonably warm day, we decided to stop by during winter break. Here's what we saw!

Fresh new baby lambs

Demonstration of a well sweep (this display in front of an actual well sweep)

 

There is a potter on-site and they fire all of the pottery in this tremendous kiln several times a year.

Scene with chicken

 

At the shoemaker's exhibit, there are many sizes of old-fashioned shoes to try on.

The shoemaker's workspace

Authentic handbills tacked up outside the general store (which sells souvenirs and snacks, and is air-conditioned/heated)

The interpreter at the printer's office was very chatty--we learned a lot, including the fact that there was no black ink. Instead it could be very dark blue or red or brown.

Winter view out the window of the attorney's office on the main square.

 

 The attorney's desk

This is the Towne House, the fanciest in the village. At one point it was inhabited by a family with 9 children. It has two parlors and two kitchens.

One of the parlors--note pianoforte in the background.

Dining room at the Towne House

I believe this is upstairs at the Towne house (my daughter took some of these photos)

One side of the long upstairs room in the Towne house, with crib placed before fireplace

Another part of that same long room. Apparently they would have held balls or meetings or quilting bees here on special occasions.

Behind the great room on the second floor is the servant's bedroom. Just out of sight on the left are stairs down to the kitchen.

This is down TWO floors from the previous photo, it is the second kitchen built right below the main kitchen. There is also an indoor well in this area.

 

A modern-day sitting area (not an exhibit) in the building that houses the cafeteria.

 

Glass case holds old-fashioned ice skates. 

Display of period winter-wear, including a quilted hood.

The tinsmith was doing some very precise work to affix the handle-ring to a conical candle snuffer.

Tinsmith scenes

 

Your average bed... I don't remember where this one was, but likely a one-storey house on the square.

 

This stove and the coin display above are all in the Thompson Bank building, also right on the square.

 

Another favorite spot is the farm house, way out in the "country" part of the village. When we visited on this February day, they were making candles from actual tallow (beef fat). We learned that the method is to chop up the fat (see bowl), place it with water in a cast iron cauldron, and heat until melted. Then they dipped strings affixed to a dowel into the water/fat, and the fat clings to each string with each dip. My son got to try dipping. You place the dowel on a rack to dry/cool between dips, doing 12-24 dips in total to make a candle. (This is great knowledge for the end times!)

A wonderful in-between spot between the farm kitchen and back shed, full of kindling and drying herbs.

The Rooster in Charge

The cooper's workshop, another building in the country part of the museum

At the end of our visit we stopped by the main building to see the exhibit called "Make No Little Plans," about the family that started Sturbridge Village. The quote was excerpted in the brochure that we carried around all day, and by the end of our visit we had it memorized. "Make no little plans, they have no magic to stir men's blood... Make big plans, aim high in hope and work." What amazing advice to give anyone!

 

The Village founder, A.B. Wells, worked closely with his grand-daughter Ruth on the village, though he lived in California. They exchanged "Audiograms" from time to time, which are short records sent by mail carrying voice messages. The "Make No Little Plans" exhibit played some of this audio on a loop and also showed reproductions of their letters back and forth. (They were very dear.)

Parting view of Old Sturbridge Village. These interpreters were finishing up for the day. I adore such scenes with zero modern paraphernalia on view. This could be taken anytime since color film was invented, right?!

What do you think of these historical villages? What about the idea to "make no little plans" ?