15/02/2026
The 2026 Barkley Marathons is underway. The conch was blown at 5:00 a.m. ET on February 14 and runners set off into the Tennessee wilderness approximately one hour later to begin what is widely regarded as the world’s hardest ultramarathon.
A field of roughly 40 runners will attempt to complete five loops of brutal, unmarked mountain terrain — approximately 100 miles with around 60,000 feet of cumulative elevation change — within a 60-hour cutoff.
As is tradition, there is no official live tracking, no broadcast, and no race-sanctioned updates. Information emerges slowly through a tight-knit community of insiders, crew members, and spectators at the yellow gate. We’ll be updating our page as news comes in from the course over the next 60 hours.
