Date:	 Thu, 6 Apr 2006 18:26:15 -0400
From:	Sue Johnston
Subject:	Barkley women
To:	ULTRA@LISTSERV.DARTMOUTH.EDU

Of course, anyone--not naming names, but let's call him Mike Bur--who 
thinks the new, improved Barkley is not slower, is bound to get some of 
the facts wrong.  :)  

With a lot of help from Mike Dobies & Craig Wilson, I finished the fun run 
with Mike Tilden in 2000 in 32:57 and went no further.  In 2001 Hans Put 
and I completed three loops (can't remember the exact time & too lazy to 
look it up--34'ish hours?); then the two of us, plus Tilden, attempted a 
fourth loop, making it about a third of the way before realizing we 
wouldn't make the cutoff (read: we wimped out) and bailing down the South 
Old Mac Trail.  This was the same year Wood & Horton completed 5 loops.

After a 5-year hiatus, I returned to the Barkley for old times sake, at 
the tail end of a road trip South.  Seeing as how I was a little rusty 
with course navigation, Mike Dobies and Craig Wilson were kind enough to 
let me tag along with them.  Okay, so I was a parasite.  The current loop 
took me almost 2 hours longer than the 2000 & 2001 route.  Part of that 
was due to time spent navigating the new sections (the appropriately named 
Testicle Spectacle & Meth Lab Hill), but IMO the new course IS 
significantly slower than when I last participated, in 2001. Of course, 
Gary's "accurate course measurements" always add up to an even 20.00 
miles.  Additionally, IF one didn't veer off course--and our particular 
merry band did not--the crazy tangle of briars on Rat Jaw felt like 
thousands of tiny biting snakes.  Since it was hot, some of us tried 
leaving legs and arms bare and got pretty chewed up.  We looked as if we'd 
gotten in the middle of a dozen catfights, or in the case of Tennessee, 
cockfights.

When a person drops at the Barkley, Gary likes to record the actual REASON 
(i.e. "It was too hard," "I got tired," and the like).  Although Loop #1 
WAS a lot of fun, I realized that Loop #2 would NOT be, and Loop #3 would 
be out of the question for me.  Also, the Barkley isn't good training for 
*anything* but... well... the Barkley.  Sooo...  about halfway through the 
first loop I began thinking up witty little excuses for dropping so Gary 
could record them on his stats sheet, hence the "I remember this being 
more fun" and "This event is too hard for girls" comments.  (While I don't 
truly believe the event is too hard for women, I think Bur might be onto 
something when he concludes that most women likely see the event 
as "pointless and unnecessary."  FWIW, I've never burned ants with a 
magnifying glass either.)

But back to my story:  I waited patiently--and proudly!--as Taps played 
over the bugle, then showered, and rode to Wartburg w/Horton for my first 
ever trip to Hardees.  (First ever trip to Sonic was the day before.  When 
one is in an upscale town like Wartburg, one must take advantage of all 
the fine dining options.)  Back at the campground, I popped in my earplugs 
and got a solid 8 hours of sleep in the tent, never even hearing the 
bugle... and I *know* it played.  Lots.  Sunday morning I did a beautiful 
run of the Spicewood and North Old Mac Trails. Yes, there ARE groomed, 
very runable trails at Frozen Head where "the fleet runner" can actually 
feel FLEET!!

Thanks to Gary, Raw Dog, the Bugler, the FHSP folks, & everyone else who 
allows this great event to continue.  It WAS fun!!

Sue Johnston
Waterford, Vermont