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did not help that the map was notvery accurate. There are hundredsof old jeep and 4-wheel trails goingall over the place. So I wanderaround for about 4 hours, swearing,whimpering a bit, cursing thewhole world in general and, believeit or not, come right back towhere I started the bail out. I was solucky, I didn’t even realize where Iwas until I “chanced” a side trailand came to one of only two waterdrops on the whole course! (BTW,did I mention that the fog was sothick you could hardly see yourhand in front of your face? Howgood was the Brunton L3 headlampin that???).I decide at this point that I’m goingback on the course as I obviouslycouldn’t bail out and I’d just haveto do a 20+ hour 2nd loop or, atleast, get to the next bail out whichshould be a lot easier when I seea headlamp approaching. Now Ihadn’t seen or heard anybody for atlast eight hours so I was curious tosee who it was. An old timer, JohnDeWalt appears, the last person tostart loop 2. He’s the oldest finisherof Hard Rock and has been doingthe Barkley since 1988!!! He toldme that he scouts for a week beforethe race EVERY year and knowsthe place like the back of his hand.So he says, “Follow me” and wepromptly get lost again...We can’t find our way to a simplesaddle to hit a simple ridge (wellfairly simple during the day withno fog)... After stumbling aroundfor another couple of hours we decideto head back down to the bailout and, thankfully this time, withJohn’s help, we go the correct routeand get out. My second loop of onlytwo books took almost 14 hours.My first loop of 11 books only took9:17. See what the Barkley can doto you if you’re not prepared (andeven if you are prepared)?Incidentally, Joe finished loop twobut hurt his knee during a fall andquit. Greg completed three loops.If I had been fitter, I might havebeen with those guys. Most of theother racers in the loop one groupquit during or after loop two. Flyin’Brian Robinson was the only racerto attempt 4 & 5 and actually seta new record, finishing in just over55 hours. He is amazing but alsonot mortal!So, did I have fun? For the mostpart yes. It’s a great group of people.The RD is a nut but fun also.The course is not as intimidatingnow that I am somewhat familiarwith it but knowing you have to hitcertain points again and again fryyou mentally (Testicle Spectacle,Rat Jaw, Big Hell, Danger Dave’sClimbing Wall).Would I do it again? YES, absolutely,if I can get picked again BUT alot different preparation.What would I do different? Morehills, tons of scouting, don’t getsick, more hills, tons of scouting,longer runs, more hills, tons ofscouting, much longer runs... Getthe picture?The story above is from the 2008Barkley. Jon just participated inthe 2009 event with less favorableresults than in 2008. However, heshowed up to run this year’s eventafter having been sick for the 2weeks prior to the event.Don’t miss out on any of the greatissues of AWM.There are 2 great ways to continuethe adventure:Subscribe online atwww.adventureworldmagazineonline.comorJoin the USARA where your membershipincludes a subscription toAWM. Visit www.usara.com.Adventure World Magazine is a GreenZine 43