Lazarus Lake

US endurance race designer

Lazarus Lake

Lake lighting a cigarette to signal the start of 2009 Barkley Marathons

Born|

Gary Cantrell

Gary Cantrell, known as Lazarus Lake, is an endurance race designer and director. His races, including the Barkley Marathons, the Big's Backyard Ultra,[1] the Last Annual Heart of the South,[2] and the Strolling Jim 40,[3] are known for their extreme challenge.

A largely fringe figure known only within the world of ultrarunning, Cantrell gained worldwide recognition following a 2014 documentary called The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young.[4] Lake has developed a cult following.[citation needed]

## Career

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In 1979, Lake organized his first ultramarathon, known as The Strolling Jim 40. The race was named after the first Tennessee Walking Horse to win best of his breed at the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration. The race is still held annually and is one of the oldest ultramarathons in the Southern United States.[5]

In 1986, Lake created the Barkley Marathons, a 100 mile ultramarathon that has elements of orienteering and off-trail scrambling. The race has developed a reputation for its difficulty and is often referred to as "the race that eats its young". According to Lake, the Barkley Marathons are meant to test the limits of human endurance.[6]

In 2012, Lake created the backyard ultra, where participants run a 4.167-mile (6.706 km) loop every hour, on the hour and are eliminated if they fail to complete the loop in time. The distance of each loop is equal to 100 divided by 24, so that a competitor would run 100 miles for a full day of competition. The winner is the competitor who finishes one extra loop after all the other runners have dropped. The length of the event can range from 24 hours to four and a half days.[7]

In 2020, Lake held the first Big Dog's Backyard Satellite Team Championship, where 25 countries competed against one another remotely from their respective homelands. Each team was allowed 15 runners and a team score would be the accumulation of the loops of each runner. By 2022, the number of countries participating had ballooned to 37 countries, which The New York Times called "an international battle royale," encompassing "qualifiers, hype videos and a livestream broadcast."[8]

## Media appearances

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Lake has appeared in several documentaries, including the 2014 The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young[9][10] and 2017's Where Dreams Go To Die.[11][12] In 2021, Lake appeared on episode 27 of Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, where he was interviewed by Mary Carillo.[13]

Lake has been featured in Sports Illustrated,[14] The New York Times,[15][8] and The Guardian.[16]

Trail Runner magazine called him an "evil genius," "The Leonardo da Vinci of pain," and "A master of sadomasochistic craft."[1] The Bitter Southerner magazine described Cantrell as a "Bearded Saint" and "The Godfather of the Woods."[6]

## Personal life

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In 2018, Lake covered the United States on foot, starting in Rhode Island and ending in Oregon.[17]

In 2023, Lake was inducted into the American Ultrarunning Hall of Fame.[18][19] He lives with his wife Sandra in Bell Buckle, Tennessee.[20]

## References

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1. ^ a b Pearson, Andy (October 25, 2017). "Big's Backyard Ultra: A Race With No End". Trail Runner magazine. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
2. ^ Gigandet, Maggie (2022-08-30). "Chased by the Reaper: Why Laz Lake's Dastardly Road Race Strikes Fear in Runners". GearJunkie. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
3. ^ Crockett, Davy. "Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run". Ultrarunning History. Retrieved 11 May 2022.
4. ^ Iltis, Annika; Kane, Timothy James (2016-10-01), The Barkley Marathons: The Race That Eats Its Young (Documentary, Adventure, History), retrieved 2022-12-02
5. ^ "Strolling Jim 40 Mile Run - Wartrace Tennessee | Ultrarunning History". 2021-05-12. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
6. ^ a b "Good Luck, Morons: Lazarus Lake and His Impossible Race". THE BITTER SOUTHERNER. Retrieved 2022-12-02.
7. ^ "Big Dog's Backyard Ultras Complete Guide: The Format, Training, How To Survive One". marathonhandbook.com. 2021-08-02. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
8. ^ a b Beasley, Jared (October 23, 2022). "For Ukrainian Runners, a Brutal Race Made Sense When Little Else Did". The New York Times.
9. ^ Linden, Sheri (2015-11-26). "'The Barkley Marathons': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
10. ^ eberger (2015-12-03). "How Filmmakers Cracked the World's Most Bizarre and Difficult Race". Outside Online. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
11. ^ "See the Pain, Suffering, and Joy of Attempting the Brutal Barkley Marathons". Runner's World. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
12. ^ Francis, Anne (2018-05-31). "Where Dreams Go To Die documents Gary Robbins's Barkley Marathons attempts". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
13. ^ Murphy, Mary (2021-04-20). "Barkley Marathon Mastermind Lazarus Lake to Appear on HBO's 'Real Sports'". GearJunkie. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
14. ^ Smetana, Jessica. "The Race With No Finish Line". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
15. ^ Beasley, Jared (2023-03-18). "Life Isn't Fair. He Didn't Want This Race to Be, Either". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-04-09.
16. ^ Ranson, Sophie (2022-06-28). "The Barkley Marathons: the hellish 100-mile race with 15 finishers in 36 years". the Guardian. Retrieved 2022-12-15.
17. ^ Meschke, Jacob (September 1, 2018). "The Barkley Marathons Creator Is Walking Across the Country - Just Don't Ask Him Why". Runner's World. Retrieved March 28, 2020.
18. ^ "Gary Cantrell – 2023 Hall of Fame Member". ultrarunninghistory.com. 2023-12-03. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
19. ^ "Barkley Marathons Creator Lazarus Lake Inducted Into The Ultrarunning Hall Of Fame". 2023-12-13. Retrieved 2024-01-03.
20. ^ Gintzler, Ariella. "Meet Lazarus Lake, the Man Behind the Barkley Marathons". outsideonline.com/.