Instead, he drifted a few degrees too far west and hit the trail from an unexpected angle. Says Robbins, “When I got, I thought, ‘Oh, my god, I’ve got it, I can get to the gate with five minutes to spare’… I would be the slowest Barkley finisher ever.” He took the page, turned around and watched the fog envelop the mountain.įrom that spot, Robbins was supposed to bushwhack a few hundred feet, hit the apex of a u-shaped trail and head left. “Before loop five, he broke down, but … it was more of a cry knowing that he was achieving this massive goal, rather than one of fatigue and pain. “Gary looked strong, determined and focused throughout the race,” says Robbins’ wife, Linda, who was there crewing for him. The race went smoothly, with the exception of a few key navigational missteps. Robbins and sole-finisher Kelly descending Rat Jaw. This year-with 130,000 feet of vert under his belt in the final four weeks of his last training block-he returned to Frozen Head State Park with “every expectation” that he would finish. Last year, at his first attempt, he finished the first four loops before timing out in the final loop. Just months before sending in his application in 2010, he broke his foot, and wound up on crutches for the better part of 2011. His path to Frozen Head, though, has been riddled with false starts and near misses. “So I had heard about it within my first few years in the sport, as early as 2006. “Barkley is very well known in the adventure racing world,” says Robbins. He was 31 when he won his first ultra, and has been at the top of the sport ever since, with top-10 finishes at the Western States 100 and HURT 100 to his name, as well as FKTs on the Wonderland Trail around Mount Rainier, and Canada’s West Coast Trail and East Coast Trail. After a few years, adventure racing gave way to trail ultrarunning. The 40-year-old Canadian grew up playing hockey, and was in his late 20s (30 pounds heavier and quite a partier, he says) when he discovered adventure racing. In a sport now dominated by young track and road converts, Robbins is somewhat of an anomaly. There’s been people who made it to the fifth loop and didn’t finish … but no one who’s gotten two miles from the finish.” “The race always seems to produce a lot of drama,” he says.
On the afternoon of April 3, 2017, practically the entire trail running world watched as Gary Robbins sprinted his way to a DNF at the Barkley Marathons, having become disoriented in the final miles of the race and accidentally taking a wrong trail back to camp.Įven the race’s founder, Lazarus Lake, was shocked. Heading out the door? Read this article on the new Outside+ app available now on iOS devices for members!
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