This is less of a history of the Barkley Marathons and more of a memoir of how the Barkley inspired Michiel Panhuysen to become enamored by ultra marathon trail running. The pull of the Barkley is hard to ignore once you learn it's rules and history. It's not surprising that Panhuysen's interest in ultras led him to the Barkley which led him to training to give it a shot which led to MORE ultras. It's a vicious cycle that pushes these runners to find their limits.

This was such an interesting read. Chapters about the Barkley are sandwiched by chapters about other ultras that Panhuysen has run and how each of those races helped him gain skill and confidence for all of the other races. If you're interested in running or extreme sports, this is a great book to pick up.

A great book! Everyone that has ever thought about running something longer than a marathon will enjoy the stories of this incredible race. The icing on the cake of this book is the insightful strategies that are discussed that could be applied to various other endurance events.

As a fan of all things ultrarunning, I have loved the lore of the Barkley Marathons for many years. Getting to read about the race and the history of it from a multiple time participant was just fascinating. I enjoyed everything about this book! Highly recommend for any running fan.

I live about 45 minutes from where the Barkley is held at Frozen Head (almost) every year so I knew of the race and how extreme it was and what the location and its terrain encompasses but never knew much more than that. Michiel Panhuysen did a great job of letting readers get a behind the scenes, or behind the Yellow Gate if you will, look at just how extreme the Barkley is and what it takes to compete in it. I also enjoyed reading about some of the other ultra events the author described running in across the world in preparation for Barkley that I had never heard of before, along with stories and insight from other Barkley competitors about their Barkley races that he became friends with over the years. I am definitely not a runner, ultra or otherwise, and really enjoyed this book. Thank you for the ARC to read and provide feedback on!

A fun read about a not so fun race in the wilds of Tennessee, the Barkley Marathon. If you know, you know .

Great look at the Barkley event, its competitors and what it takes to be part of that world. Michiel is an engaging tour guide through it all.

As an ultramarathoner I’m always interested in reading books like this. The author covered a lot of info about other ultra races but it was mostly about Barkley. I enjoyed his personal stories of the races. The tidbits about Laz were the best.