John Kelly Interview – Barkley Finisher 15

John Kelly joined me just a few days after his finish to talk about what it took to finish the Barkley Marathons.  Here’s a hint: Massive amounts of planning, decades of course knowledge, his Aunt Brenda’s cookies, and the incredible ability to focus through a dense fog of fatigue.

In this episode, we discuss:

• His background in running and how he got into the race after only running for two years.
• What he did wrong when he ran it in 2015 and what he did wrong in 2016.
• What Barkley-specific training helped him prepare physically.  And aside from having new twins at home, what helped him mentally?
• His prescient blog post from 2016 about persevering through failure at Barkley.
• What strategies he used when the mental fatigue overtook him.
• Whether after running together for two days straight, did he and Gary start to snap at each other?
• The final question: What’s harder, an Ironman triathlon or Barkley?  (duh)

John Kelly Episode Sponsor Notes – Run the Red Desert

Episode sponsored by Run the Red Desert trail run in Kilpecker Sand Dunes in Wyoming on June 3rd.  Multiple distances, all with a wild and rugged feel and a laid back atmosphere.  Again, check out the video to get a taste of the terrain…it looks awesome.  Thanks again for supporting URP!

John Kelly Episode Notes

Here’s John’s blog.

Here’s more on Tanya Gallagher’s music

Here’s the URP Patreon page.

Here’s more on DIckel Whiskey.

 

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