B.C. runner misses 60-hour marathon cutoff by 6 seconds

A Canadian ultramarathoner managed to run for 60 hours through the cold, muddy hills of one of the toughest races in the world, but his triumph ended with heartbreak and a disqualification.

Gary Robbins, of North Vancouver, B.C., was attempting to become the first Canadian to complete the notorious Barkley Marathons, a gruelling 60-hour race through the steep hills of Tennessee that only a handful of people have ever completed.

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[garrettmain]

I would like to add a little clarification on this story. The Barkley Marathons is a 100 mile endurance event that is extremely difficult. Runners must not only run, but collect pages from books using specific routes in a forrest. Gary Robbins, a phenomenal athlete (and a fantastic human being) was 6 seconds off of a finishing time, but used an incorrect route. His error was in route finding, which caused him to take an incorrect route and miss the cutoff by 6 seconds.

Had he made the cutoff, he still WOULD NOT have finished due to using the incorrect route.

[subscriberswithnovideosc-mkup]

And i get tired from walking for a couple hours

[pcandrsn]

He is still a superhuman badass, but...he came in to the finish line from the wrong direction (on the wrong trail). And also 6 seconds late. They make a big story about the 6 seconds because it grabs viewers' attention much more than "Dude gets disqualified on the final lap of a race."

[UhgeneIgnorian]

insurance guy in the background: "you gotta be quicker than that"

[urhot]

To be honest, he got way more publicity for finishing 6 seconds before, if he beat it, he would have not gotten much publicity

[PolarShrimp]

If only he didn’t have to tie his shoe

[domydishes]

hey man i can fail a 60 hour marathon too

[andrefullwood]

This is like me trying to hand in my assignments on time.

[DudeWhoSaysDeez]

Its not how you start, its how you



unless you finish 6 seconds late

[TheyForcedMyHandLE]

I love that they hold to the rules and not dilute the challenge.

[MrRogerWild]

Absolutely gutted for him, it was still an awesome effort and an amazing achievement, well done 👍👏🏅

[MrFatperson]

Thats why i stay inside and watch youtube

[hypermarshmello]

6 seconds compared to 60 hours is literally nothing

[funforsameer]

*For The Damaged Coda plays in the background*

[lesterabastillas]

the fact that he took that so well and did not need to resort to shouting, he had an incredible show of control and reign over his emotions (I will admit if I was in that position, wrong turn or not, there would've been some voices raised) that was in of itself incredible!

[hannahlael]

To clarify for all of the confused commenters: (my facts come from the mini documentary on the 2017 Berkley Marathon)

This race is 100 miles in a 60 hours limit. It is through extreme terrain, mountains, cliffs, mud slides, and dense forests, there are very few trails. Weather is usually horrendous. It tests endurance, orienteering, and mental capacity. Runners have to find 13 pages hidden along the pre-determined course and return all of them. The runners must also stay on the determined trail to be considered for a finish.
In his last few miles of the race, the fog and rain and extreme exhaustion caused Gary to pass out. When he came to, he had lost his sense of direction and Gary went down the wrong side of a mountain, adding 30 minutes to his run. Even if he had finished in time, he wouldn't have qualified as a finisher because he took the incorrect route.

There have only been 17 finishers of this race's history, the most recent in 2017, next one before that in 2012. Heartbreaking for Gary, but definitely a true testament to how extremely near-impossible the race is.

[eddief]

had he shaved his beard he would have made those 6 seconds easy due to wind resistance.

[Travis_]

What a great man! He's very humble about the whole thing.

[melliesarobles]

i feel so bad. he's a very good runner and I hope he gets better :)!!

[xXxOmarSanchezxXx]

Shave the beard for weight reduction and aero dynamics and youll beat those 6 seconds next time