Rain on plastic.
Cold Tennessee air.
And the architect of chaos watching it all unfold.
Repost for a chance of winning a 4x6 print. I’ll select 40 at random to celebrate the 40th edition of the Barkley Marathons.
#bm100 #barkleymarathons
📸 share.google/eGSiSrAnE3J1...
La réalité est qu’on n’a pas de ministre de la Justice en France, juste une personnalité spécialisée dans le commentaire douteux et sans consistance d’un événement à l’autre. On a au mieux un ministre de la Prison.
21.02.2026 13:02 — 👍 297 🔁 105 💬 7 📌 2
🚨Flag alert🚨
There's a Lithuanian flag visible in this photo 🇱🇹
(The runner up front is Oscar Michalak)
#BM100
@taka-does-stuff.bsky.social again, and again, and again 😅
The first guy is Stephen Redfern.
#BM100
A documentary that's mainly a race recap. We learn the French contingent rented a house and spent a week together. For my English-speaking friends, skip to the end (22:30) for some comments from Carl and Laz.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO0a...
#BM100
But that's a legendary name. It's the name of Barkley's first finisher!
21.02.2026 10:17 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Je souhaite d'excellentes vacances amplement méritées à Marbella aux joueurs de l'Olympique de Marseille.
20.02.2026 22:09 — 👍 0 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0Oh thanks, I will see that.
20.02.2026 21:40 — 👍 2 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
And flags from Ohio and California too, you don't have them @taka-does-stuff.bsky.social (sorry for all this pings...)
#BM100
And we can see an Indian flag in this photo.
@taka-does-stuff.bsky.social
#BM100
Photos of 'unknown' runners
Credits (Instagram) : David Miller, Ashlinalive, cartercaptures_photography
@taka-does-stuff.bsky.social
#BM100
A new sets of beautiful photos by David Miller on his Instagram account.
#BM100
Happy to help so you can get as much info as possible. With the French crew there, someone's gotta share the news ;-)
When podcasts and interviews drop, I'll try to share some interesting details too.
Like many others, I was captivated by how fresh Alysa Liu's performance was last night.
I had the competition on in the background, checking in occasionally before I got drawn in. What energy and what an incredible competitive level. Thank you ladies!"
On y est pas vraiment avec Blanchard.
Le plus douteux reste Alix Noblat qui fait une vidéo après de debrief puis fini par : 'Je dois vous parler de mon dernier partenariat'...
J'aime pas trop ce virage des Frenchies à la Barkley, ni le côté communautaire.
2/2
Le compte-rendu de course fait partie de l'histoire de la Barkley. Il joue le jeu et semble vraiment impliqué. Mais on est loin de la sobriété de John Kelly.
Laz avait commenté le CR de ce dernier en disant : 'l'introspection sans passion, ça fait du bien'.
1/2
Yes, Mathieu Blanchard too.
20.02.2026 12:36 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
Les réseaux c'est son gagne-pain donc il n'a pas le choix malheureusement. Ça reste un bel athlete mais oui tout ce narratif est parfois agaçant.
Je trouve que ça commence à devenir une mauvaise tendance des français. Même Aurelien Sanchez n'y échappe pas.
Oups... I forgot to mention, it's your part ! @davidblank1.bsky.social
19.02.2026 22:51 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0
The cold is brutal, combined with the wet. In Stallion Mountains, he decides to quit—he can't eat anymore. He admits his clothing wasn't suitable.
All signs point to Mathieu planning to come back, and he believes he can finish if conditions are good.
10/10
#BM100
A quarter into the loop, they reach Philips Creek, another climb. That's where Mathieu decides to break away, hoping to push beyond a Fun Run. Damian tries to follow but falls back.
Mathieu moves through the books but the rain, wind,and even snow, intensifies at Bald Knob.
9/10
#BM100
Even though they run into the wild pigs nest.
The runners are aware of the weather forecast and Mathieu changes clothes. They start clockwise on loop 3 and begin with Wrong Way ('in tribute' to Gary Robbins), a big climb.
8/10
#BM100
That leads into Rat Jaw. The group doesn't waste time looking for books.
Mathieu starts feeling hypoglycemia coming on at the end of the loop but hangs on with the lead group. They finish the loop and head out on a second one without many mistakes thanks to Sébastien navigating.
7/10
#BM100
Mathieu describes a straightforward first climb on a switchback trail. John Kelly leads the group. Then the group climbs Chimney Top before descending Big Hell. The first book was at the bottom. Then they climb toward Zipline for the second book, the third was at the prison.
6/10
#BM100
But. The Barkley. To begin, some things that might interest David Blank.
Here are the measurements Mathieu gives, taken before the race: about 40 km and 4600m elevation gain (roughly 25 miles and 15,000 feet).
5/10
#BM100
I'll wrap up this intro by noting that Blanchard earned his spot through his Barkley Fall Classic win, yet he's been claiming since arriving (across 2 posts) that he kept his participation secret from everyone and trained in total secrecy.
4/110
#BM100
But there's always a lot of storytelling around him and it shows here too. Tears (many), blood, sweat, discipline. And tons of images. I'll address that in another post.
www.instagram.com/mathieu__bla...
3/10
#BM100
A former competitor on the French version of Survivor, Mathieu built his reputation in the trail world... and on social media where he's very active with his partner Alix Noblat. No criticism here—he's an incredible champion.
2/10
#BM100
Very long report from Mathieu Blanchard to read on Facebook and Instagram.
Here's what he says. First off, Mathieu is very well-known in France. Along with Courtney Dauwalter, he's probably the biggest name to run Barkley.
1/10
#BM100
He then talks about a book apparently at the top. Then Bald Knob. And after that, he doesn't see Damian anymore and notices his page wasn't torn out near Barley Mouth.
4/4
