The Barkley Marathons is a foot race created by Gary Cantrell and Karl Henn, and named after a friend of Gary's, Barry Barkley (who died in 2019). This race was inspired from James Earl Ray's escape from the Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary in 1977 (he was in-prisoned there for the murder of Martin Luther King Jr). During his 54.5 hour escape, Earl Ray could only cover 12 miles. Cantrell thought he could have done 100 miles in this time, which gave him the idea to organise a foot race in this area. The first edition took place in 1986.