A real feat. Aurélien Sanchez, 32, became on Friday night the first French runner to win the Barkley Marathons, a legendary 160 km ultra-endurance event taking place in Tennessee (United States). After 58 hours 32 minutes and 12 seconds of effort, the Toulousain arrived only a few minutes before the American John Kelly (58 h 42 m 23 s) and the Belgian Karel Sabbe (59 h 53 m 33 s).
Party, with about forty other athletes, in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday in the woods of Frozen Head Park, Aurélien Sanchez simply wrote on his Instagram account “Finished! “, at the finish of this test with approximately 20,000 m of elevation in the forests and hills of eastern Tennessee, considered one of the most grueling races in the world. Competitors must move by sight, with only the help of a map provided at the last moment and a compass. No outside help is allowed.
The three men, who had to cross the line before the 60 hours to officially finish the race, are the only “finishers” of the Barkley this year, which had only fifteen – and no French – since its creation in 1986 and which hadn’t seen one since 2017.
The Barkley is a mythical race where only 1% of competitors manage to go to the end. The performance of the young mountain and adventure enthusiast is all the more remarkable as it is his first in this race, when many other competitors have already tried their luck on several occasions.