Getting In · Coveted ultra
Barkley Fall Classic
The Barkley Fall Classic is Lazarus Lake's public race on the same Frozen Head terrain, and it is the closest thing to a Barkley experience you can actually sign up for. It calls itself a 50K. It is not really a 50K.
- Distance
- 50K on paperUsually longer
- Climbing
- ~12,000 ft
- Cutoff
- 13h20
- Bail-out
- Marathon finish option
- Finish rate
- Often under 40%
- Prize
- The croix de bois
The BFC uses the same park, the same briars, and the same sadism, compressed into a thirteen-hour day. It includes Rat Jaw, the powerline cut with a grade that requires hands and is covered in sawbriar that shreds skin, and a section through a prison tunnel. Runners carry a course map and there's a navigation element. The distance is nominally 50K and has repeatedly turned out longer.
There's a mid-race decision point where you can take the marathon distance and finish, or continue on the full course. Finishers of the full distance get the croix de bois, a small wooden cross, and it is one of the more respected objects in American ultrarunning precisely because so many people take the marathon option.
How to get in
- Open entryRegistration
Unlike the Barkley itself, the BFC has a real registration process on a real platform. It opens well ahead of the September race and it fills, so treat opening day as the deadline.
- LotteryOverflow and waitlist
Depending on demand in a given year, a waitlist or drawing may apply. Get on the list regardless: attrition before September is significant.
Questions runners actually ask
Is the Barkley Fall Classic really a 50K?
Nominally. Laz measures generously, and the actual distance has repeatedly come in longer. With roughly 12,000 feet of climbing and a 13h20 cutoff, treat it as a hard 50 miler.
What is the croix de bois?
A small wooden cross given to finishers of the full course. Runners who take the marathon bail-out receive a marathon finish instead.
Does finishing the BFC help me get into the Barkley?
It certainly doesn't hurt. It demonstrates you understand the terrain and the culture, which is what the Barkley selection actually cares about.
Go to the source
Entry rules, dates, standards, fees, and odds change every single year, and the interesting races change them the most. Use this guide to build the plan; use the official site to confirm the details before you book anything.
If this is your kind of thing
Need the races in between? The hard part of a bucket list year is everything else on the calendar: the qualifier, the tune-up, the long run with a bib on.