Barkley Marathons creator Laz Lake completes his epic trek across America

June 1, 2026

He’s the man who has created two of ultrarunning’s most infamous formats and over the weekend Lazarus Lake – real name Gary Cantrell – completed an incredible endurance challenge of his own.

The fiendish Barkley Marathons was his first creation. Known as ‘The Race That Eats Its Young’,  just 20 different people – including one woman in Jasmin Paris – have completed it since the race began in 1986.

And the Backyard Ultras is his second great gift to the ultra scene, where competitors repeat ‘yards’ of a 4.167-mile (6.706 km) loop on the hour, every hour, until just one person is left standing.

Laz is now in his 70s and has been attempting to complete a coast-to-coast walk across America, from Delaware in the east to San Francisco on the west coast, which is a distance of around 3,000 miles. RUN247