The Finishers by Alexis Berg and Aurélien Delfosse
It is a race like no other: there is no website to take entries; participants are selected from those who find a way to submit written applications and the $1.60 entry fee; only around 40 people are chosen to run. The course, in the Cumberland Mountains of Tennessee, was inspired by the failed escape of James Earl Ray, Martin Luther King Jr’s assassin, amid the unforgiving landscape of Ray’s prison. Runners must complete five roughly 20-mile loops – those who manage to complete only three laps are deemed to have achieved the ‘fun run’ – with a total elevation climb equal to two ascents of Mount Everest. Since 1986, only 15 people have ever finished.
Thanks to ultrarunning photographer Alexis Berg and L’Equipe journalist Aurélien Delfosse, we now have a record of these superhumans who have completed the race. Berg and Delfosse criss-crossed the United States capturing stunning photographs and in-depth interviews with the finishers. Originally published in French and quickly sold out, these stories inspire awe, respect and reflection at the limit of the human spirit.
As with the race itself, the book is a multilayered journey of discovery, combining atmospheric landscape photography with candid portraiture, extensive interviews with a range of contextualizing essays, raw data with gentle testimonies – all compiled in an exceptional design with the highest-quality print production. At the book’s heart are the finishers’ own words. Capturing the spirit of their legendary achievements and the modesty with which they live their daily routines far from the torturous course, the interviews distill hundreds of hours of transcripts to provide unique insights into the minds and mentalities of those who have conquered the Barkley Marathons.
Providing further background are essays on subjects connected to the race – from the cultures of ultrarunning to the story behind the prison that haunts the course – alongside detailed data for each of the finishers, blending granular and aerial perspectives seldom provided in sportsbooks on any subject.
For those seeking a truly unique record of The Barkley Marathons, Volume is producing a collector’s edition, limited to 100 copies. Set in a slipcase with an exclusive design featuring a contour map of the terrain of the race and accompanied by a photographic print signed by Alexis Berg.
