“The Finishers” of the Barkley Marathons, a talk with Alexis Berg

Chapter 1 – Alexis Berg: the photographer

Anyone who is passionate about ultra running will be familiar with his work. Alexis Berg is one of the most iconic mountain running photographers of all time. His photos, rather than witnessing the event, transport the mind until we become part of the action. Fascinating and raw, they have the ability to put the spectator in the runner’s shoes, experience his suffering, pain, joy, struggle and enthusiasm.

“I got into this kind of photography a bit by chance” says Alexis, whose first experience dates back to the Diagonale des Fous in 2013. “I agreed to follow my brother Frederic’s competition, trying to take some shots.” Ignoring who he was photographing, Alexis captured two runners in the middle of the night, illuminated by his headlamp. They were François d’Haene and Kilian Jornet, two of the best ultra trailers of all time. “I still don’t know how they found those images, but a German magazine first, and a French one later, contacted me to publish them. From there I was offered to photograph one race, then another, then another more.”

In this relatively short period of time, Alexis’ images have appeared in publications and magazines such as L’Équipe, Marca, The Guardian, National Geographic, Men’s Health, Esquire, Runner’s World, Trail Runner Magazine. He has collaborated with many brands like Salomon, Nike, The North Face, Hoka, Adidas, Patagonia, Red Bull, Asics and Columbia. He has been the official photographer of the Ultra-Trail World Tour and the Skyrunning World Series and followed competitions of international prestige such as the UTMB, the Marathon des Sables, the Western States, the Hardrock 100, the Tor Des Geants, the Ultra-Trail Mont-Fuji or the Transgrancanaria.

Chapter 2 – the Barkley Marathons: a race like no other

A unique, fascinating race. As famous as it is impossible. Psychologically and physically devastating. A race like no other. Participants are selected from those who find a way to submit a written application and registration fee ($1.60). The 40 lucky ones chosen to race receive a letter of condolence, while novices who show up at the gates of Frozen Head State Park must carry a license plate from their home country. No GPS is allowed, but a map of the route will be delivered that will reveal the position of books, the real checkpoints that represent the testimony of your passage. The route was inspired by the failed escape attempt of James Earl Ray, assassin of Martin Luther King, through the unforgiving landscape surrounding Brushy Mountain Penitentiary, 50 miles west of Knoxville, Tennessee. Crazy slopes, strewn with shrubs, vegetation and mud. The race is staged on a circuit to be repeated 5 times, for a total of 160km and a positive difference in height of 16,000m, to be covered in a maximum time of 60 hours. But only if you have respected the previous times.

Created in 1986 in total anonymity, it remained confidential for a long time, the Barkley Marathons has become a myth and legend of the ultra-trail panorama, over which its creator jealously watches: the magnetic Lazarus Lake.

 “Until relatively recently, the event was only known to true insiders, but with the growing popularity of trail running and the limited accessibility of participation, it has achieved mythical status.” In recent years, numerous reportages and documentaries (from Netflix to Canal+) have made the Barkley known to the general public, making it one of the most talked about races on the planet. In 2021, for the third consecutive year, Barkley Marathons did not register any finisher. In its history, only 15 runners have managed to cross the finish line, about 1% of the participants. John Kelly, since 2017, is the last finisher of the event with a time of 59h 30’53”.

“You can’t finish the Barkley without having been deeply marked by it. It’s hard to explain into words.” John Fegyveresi, Finisher 13

Chapter 3 – Lazarus Lake’s preamble

“When Raw Dog and I backpacked the first Barkley Loop about 35 years ago, little did we dream what the race would become. After taking 10 hours to cover the first 7.5 miles in a pouring rain, we knew we had stumbled on something special.” It would take three years for anyone to complete the fun run, 3 of the 5 laps. Seven more before anyone took the hundred miles home, six more for second and third person to join him, another decade before the race’s reputation spread beyond that exclusive community of “people who do this kind of thing”. But, within that community, Barkley had already reached mythological proportions. And those who had finished it were considered legends.

“Over the years we have found that there is something different about those who join that short list of finishers.They all come determined to finish it. But those who touch the gate five times have something more. We see it in their eyes when they arrive. They are there, but not there. They have come for one purpose only. To finish. All else is secondary. They may fail. They may fail repeatedly. But there is never an excuse. Each failure is seen only as the opportunity to improve.”

Lazarus never imagined there would come a day when finishing Barkley would mean so much. For most competitors, this is a defining moment in their athletic career. These 15 finishers aren’t necessarily the strongest, the fastest, or the most gifted ones. But, from the moment they hit the gate for the fifth time, wherever they go they are considered the elite. It is something they deserved. They have succeeded, where hundreds have failed. They are the 1% of the 1%.

“At the Barkley’s, success is about overreaching our abilities, and living to tell about it. Sometimes being successful is making out of it alive.” Lazarus Lake, founder of the Barkley Marathons

Chapter 4 – the book

Beyond the numbers, there are 15 faces, 15 names, of which we know almost nothing. 15 profiles that are real riddles. The Barkley finishers form an anonymous congregation. Who are these men and women? Who are these people capable of foiling Barkley’s traps? What did they understand or what did they have more than others? “We wanted to find them all. A research that led us, in the spring of 2019, to cross the United States up and down, to meet those who finished the race that no one is able to finish. To reveal the mysteries and their stories in this fantastic book of pictures, stories and interviews.” Says Alexis.

The Finishers tells Barkley, the miracles of the human body when facing the extreme, it insinuates itself into the mechanics of the mind and draws, one after one, the full and profound portrait of an incomparable ordeal. “Their words trace the birth of the ultra-trail, tell fragments of American history, the culture of the great hiking trails and the tradition of the FKT. Under a porch in Virginia, on an armchair in Oregon, facing the mountains of Colorado or under the California sun, the Finishers recount 15 American fates. They are carpenters, glaciologists, paramedics or engineers. Ordinary people who hide extraordinary men.”

Long portraits, great stories and precise elements to understand the basics of this sport and the Barkley phenomenon. Each meeting was a moment of grace, heart and intelligence. As with the contest itself, the book is a multi-level voyage of discovery, combining dream landscape photography with sincere portraits, contextualizing essays, kind testimonies. But at the center of it all, there are the words of the protagonists. “Capturing the spirit of their legendary conquests and the modesty with which they live their daily routines, the interviews distill hundreds of hours of transcripts to provide unique insights into the minds and mindsets of those who conquered Barkley.” The many facets are brought together in artfully designed pages that mix, like the excitement of the race itself, self-reflection and physical torment.

“The definition of a finisher is simple: someone who completes 5 loops in 60 hours. But what is a finisher? Who they really are? This answer is profound and complex. Barkley is a mirror, in every finisher we can see a part of ourselves, a potential that we have never exploited.”

Thanks to this book, we now have a register of these super humans, mostly unknown in sports. Crossing the United States to meet every finisher, Alexis and Aurélien Delfosse, a reporter from Equipe, traveled from New Hamsphire to Oregon via New Mexico, Colorado, California and Utah, capturing something unique. The result is not just a testimony of triumphs and tragedies, but a portrait of humble people who have achieved something extraordinary. These stories inspire awe, respect and reflection on the verge of the human spirit.