Hacker Cinema
The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young
2014 · Film · documentary · 90 min
Directed by Annika Iltis, Timothy James Kane
In its first 25 years only 10 people have finished The Barkley Marathons. Based on a historic prison escape, this cult like race tempts people from around the world to test their limits of physical and mental endurance in this documentary that contemplates the value of pain.
7 positivefrom 7 commenters
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"Unbreakable: The Western States 100" [1] came to mind after you reminded me of the Barkley documentary. “The Barkley Marathons, the race that eats it’s young” seems more human and better grounded than "Unbreakable", but "Unbreakable" captured the excitement of running ultra marathons so completely for me.
1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zy1as6CTYXI
My second favorite “Wild, Wild, Country”, but it was mentioned already at the top of the first list. I enjoy it as a cautionary tale, but I also unironically find it an inspiring tale of building, even if it turns out to bad.
My favorite documentary is “The Barkley Marathons, the race that eats it’s young”
I return to it at least once a year, and while the root of the story - watching people attempt the impossible is certainly inspiring, I find its moral themes are what I appreciate about it the most. The idea of competition as a collective activity, that everyone wants to win, but also everyone wants to see others win their own race, that there’s something about the way that it advances our understanding of humanity that is more important than individual success.
Then also - that your race is yours alone, and that the most important victory is the one you define for yourself. There are people who finish only one or three laps of the five lap marathon, and that failure is a greater achievement than most people will ever know, and they clearly see it that way, there’s near no shame in anyone’s performance and people are clearly defining success for themselves, mostly clearly beyond what anyone else would define it for them. And finally, it’s kind of a throwaway line, but one of the runners says “I think most people could use more pain in their lives.” And it made me realize that often, when enduring hardship, rather than turning away from it, finding ways to challenge myself on my terms is a healthier approach to stress than “relaxing”.
Reminds me of an awesome documentary about The Barkley Marathons called "The Barkley Marathons: The Race that Eats its Young". People are incredible!
For those who haven't heard of the Barkley before, there's a fantastic documentary about it. Apparently it's on Amazon Prime now.
https://barkleymovie.com/
The Barkley Marathons: The Race that Eats Its Young
If you apply to join and are accepted, the acceptance letter begins with something like, "Deepest condolences, you have been accepted..."
The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young (2014)
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2400291/
It's heartfelt, yet comic. It's very enjoyable to watch with somebody else, because it is absurd and funny but also touching.
The Barkley Marathons. It's a 60 hour race of 5 laps through an unmarked course in a Tennessee state park: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley_Marathons
There is a good documentary about it called "The Barkley Marathons: The Race that Eats its Young" currently available on Amazon Prime streaming. There are also some smaller pieces on YouTube about some other years.
If you enjoyed this I'd highly recommend watching the Documentary, "The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young", it's also primarily about a very long trail run in a way, but it touches on so much more throughout. Highly recommend it.