He also did not succeed in his second participation. Karel Sabbe (33) had to give up in the Barkley Marathons, the most amazing running race in the world. It is organized every year in the US state of Tennessee. Sleep-deprived Sabbe started hallucinating, made a navigational error and got lost. No one managed to reach the finish line.
Participants of the Barkley Marathons must complete an unmarked 160-kilometer course through the wilderness in 60 hours, using only a map and a compass. They run a total of five loops and do 20,000 vertical meters. Only 15 more runners have managed to reach the finish line in the past 35 years.
Sabbe took part in the amazing running race for the first time in 2019. He held out the longest of everyone then, but eventually had to throw in the towel. This time he was not the last man standing.
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“In the fourth round, I completely lost my way north at night, literally and figuratively”, says VRT NWS. “I started hallucinating and even asked a garbage can if they could help me. Until I realized that it was not a person but a garbage can.”
A concerned resident eventually found him and called the police. Sabbe was picked up by the Morgan County Sheriff and brought back to the trail.
Prison Break
The Barkley Marathons was conceived by Gary Cantrall and was inspired by a prison break: that of the murderer of Martin Luther King Jr. James Earl Ray escaped from nearby Brushy Mountain State Penitantiary in 1977 and covered just eight miles in 55 hours. Cantrall claimed he could have covered at least 100 miles in that time and his race was born. He named the race after his running buddy Barry Barkley. Only 40 participants are allowed to participate each year.
Despite his two failed attempts, Sabbe hopes to be able to participate a third time.
Only 15 runners have already managed to finish: Karel from Ghent (33) in the last five in the most amazing running race in the world
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