New Lazarus Lake book goes deep on the Barkley Marathons and Big’s Backyard Ultra

July 15, 2025

In the early 2000s, when writer Jared Beasley of New York City discovered his neighbour in apartment 244B was a grizzled veteran ultrarunner with a mysterious past, he had no idea it would change his life. The Pirate (as he refers to him, since he wouldn’t divulge his full name) didn’t just teach him how to run; he sparked an obsession with the mysterious world of ultrarunning. That led, eventually but inevitably, to an obsession with the Barkley Marathons and its enigmatic creator, Lazarus Lake, and ultimately to Beasley’s new book, The Endurance Artist: Lazarus Lake, the Barkley & a Race with No End (to be published Sept. 16). Running Magazine