JARED BEASLEY
“The suffering, striving, and dreaming of the ultra-community collide with the unanswerable yet irresistible question: Why does anyone do this?”
- Tom Foreman
Emmy-award-winning journalist, CNN
"Gripping. I could barely put it down! Brilliant."
- Lord Bishop Helen-Ann Hartley, Member of the House of Lords, Runner
Buy The Endurance Artist
"If you’re a runner—you’ll devour it. If you’re not a runner—you’ll devour it. Beasley finally delivers the tale so many of us have waited to read..."
- Chris Solomon
Contributing editor, Outside magazine
The Endurance Artist will leave you simultaneously laughing and cringing as you meet a cast of characters as exceptional as they come.”
– Marshall Ulrich Endurance athlete, best-selling author of Running on Empty
Every spring, beneath the shadow of an abandoned prison, an out-of-work accountant flicks a lighter, and the world’s toughest footrace quietly begins.
Lazarus Lake has been called everything from a hillbilly genius to an evil mastermind to “the Willy Wonka of the Woods.” His Barkley Marathons is widely regarded as the most difficult and ingenious ultramarathon ever devised. Set in the thorny wilds of Tennessee, runners hunt for hidden books in hills, hells, and hollers. In 38 years, only 20 runners have reached the finish line.
When journalist Jared Beasley sets out to find the man behind the myth, Laz puts him through a series of absurd tests, culminating in a four-mile race with no finish line. Only then does the real journey begin. A schoolteacher runs 450 miles without sleep. Ukrainian volunteers defy curfews and missiles to compete. A mother of two makes ultrarunning history at a yellow gate.
The Endurance Artist peels back the layers of Laz’s twisted crucibles to reveal a surprising humanity. Embedded at the 2023 Barkley and the Backyard World Championship, Beasley paints a portrait of Lazarus Lake in full: social scientist, philosopher, and a failed runner who took one simple idea—that maybe fair isn't what's best for us—and turned it into an art form.
Jared Beasley is a narrative nonfiction author and journalist. Jared has written for The New York Times, Runner's World, Ultrarunning, Canadian Running, Trail Runner, Like the Wind Magazine, and UltraSignup News. His column, Detours of the Lost and Found, can be found each month in Ultrarunning Magazine. His 2019 book In Search of Al Howie was awarded the Kirkus star for literary merit and was chosen by Kirkus as one of the best indie books of the year. He holds a degree in theatre and literature from the University of Alabama.
