Sports
Obscure Sports: The Barkley Marathons, a race against nature
By Max Sharf | October 8When James Earl Ray escaped from Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, the clock was ticking until his eventual capture. Martin Luther King Jr.’s killer covered 12 miles in 54 hours before he was caught in the mountains. Every year in eastern Tennessee, around 40 handpicked runners compete in an ultramarathon to try to shatter James Earl Ray’s pace: They attempt 100 miles in 60 hours.