![]() ![]() In The Finishers, Alexis Berg and Aurélien Delfosse have set about discovering what makes these fifteen people so special. ![]() They have succeeded where thousands of others have failed. But from the moment they touch the yellow gate at the end of the fifth loop, everywhere they go they are regarded as elite. The fifteen finishers are not necessarily the strongest, the fastest, or the most gifted. For most, it is a defining moment in their athletic career. We never imagined there would come a day when finishing the Barkley would have so much meaning. Their response is always the same, no matter how unfair the defeat may seem… “I have to get better.” No matter what happens to stymie their attempt, it is only a lesson to learn an obstacle to overcome another skill to develop another puzzle to solve. Each failure is seen only as the opportunity to improve. They have come for one purpose only: to finish. We see it in their eyes when they arrive. They all come determined to finish.īut those who touch the yellow gate five times have something more. They all are skilled navigators and woodsmen, capable of enduring extreme weather, monumental climbs, and screaming descents. They are all in exceptional physical condition. ![]() Those who answer the call of the conch are all tough. Everyone who steps up to the gate on race day is an accomplished runner. Over the years we have found that there is something different about those who join that short list of finishers. It would be another decade before the race’s fame spread beyond that exclusive community of “people who do this sort of thing.” But within that community, the race had already taken on mythical proportions… And the people who finished it became legends. During this period, the reputation of the race grew, while at the same time the route grew more difficult. It was seven more before the first person took home the 100-mile (160-kilometer) course, and six more for a second and third finisher to join him. It took three years for the first person to finish the Fun Run.
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