Leslie Jamson's The Immortal Horizon

In the article, “The Immortal Horizon,” published in the May, 2011 issue of Believer Magazine, the author, Leslie Jamison, shares her experiences and adventures with some abstract, although very persistent; characters as she spectates a marathon in Tennessee known as “The Barkley Marathons.” On June 10, 1977, James Earl Ray attempted to escape from the Bushy Mountain State Penitentiary, but was apprehended fifty-four hours later after only traversing eight miles. After hearing this, a man known as Gary Cantrell turned the terrain into The Barkley Marathons, a marathon so extreme, only fourteen participants have completed it to this present day. Throughout the article, Leslie shows the audience the amount of endurance and perseverance one person may have, and the accomplishments an individual can conquer when they have a dream to achieve. The Barkley Marathons, is a marathon race ranging from sixty-one hundred miles among the rasping and raucous wilderness of Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee. Cantrell himself references, “No one has to ask them why they’re out here; they all know.” Cantrell implies that each contender knows what they are getting themselves into, and the hazards inside. These are the conditions that the Barkley Marathon
As Leslie is interacting with Carl, one of the marathons contenders, he implies to her “Well,” he says, “there’s always Blake and A.T.” Carl and Leslie herself believe that Blake and Andrew are the two contenders who have the best chance of finishing the marathon. To everyone’s astonishment, the only contender that conquered the marathon was a man named Jonathan Basham, one of Andrew Thompson’s supporting crew mates. With an event like the Barkley Marathons, only the most experienced contenders have a shot of conquering the entire