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🚨Flag alert🚨 There's a Lithuanian flag visible in this photo 🇱🇹 (The runner up front is Oscar Michalak) #BM100 @taka-does-stuff.bsky.social again, and again, and again 😅

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The first guy is Stephen Redfern. #BM100

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L’édition où tout a failli basculer

A documentary that's mainly a race recap. We learn the French contingent rented a house and spent a week together. For my English-speaking friends, skip to the end (22:30) for some comments from Carl and Laz. www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO0a... #BM100

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YouTube video by Distances+

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But that's a legendary name. It's the name of Barkley's first finisher!

Je souhaite d'excellentes vacances amplement méritées à Marbella aux joueurs de l'Olympique de Marseille.

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And flags from Ohio and California too, you don't have them @taka-does-stuff.bsky.social (sorry for all this pings...) #BM100

Photos of 'unknown' runners Credits (Instagram) : David Miller, Ashlinalive, cartercaptures_photography @taka-does-stuff.bsky.social #BM100

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A new sets of beautiful photos by David Miller on his Instagram account. #BM100

Happy to help so you can get as much info as possible. With the French crew there, someone's gotta share the news ;-) When podcasts and interviews drop, I'll try to share some interesting details too.

Like many others, I was captivated by how fresh Alysa Liu's performance was last night. I had the competition on in the background, checking in occasionally before I got drawn in. What energy and what an incredible competitive level. Thank you ladies!"

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On y est pas vraiment avec Blanchard. Le plus douteux reste Alix Noblat qui fait une vidéo après de debrief puis fini par : 'Je dois vous parler de mon dernier partenariat'... J'aime pas trop ce virage des Frenchies à la Barkley, ni le côté communautaire. 2/2

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Le compte-rendu de course fait partie de l'histoire de la Barkley. Il joue le jeu et semble vraiment impliqué. Mais on est loin de la sobriété de John Kelly. Laz avait commenté le CR de ce dernier en disant : 'l'introspection sans passion, ça fait du bien'. 1/2

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Les réseaux c'est son gagne-pain donc il n'a pas le choix malheureusement. Ça reste un bel athlete mais oui tout ce narratif est parfois agaçant. Je trouve que ça commence à devenir une mauvaise tendance des français. Même Aurelien Sanchez n'y échappe pas.

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Oups... I forgot to mention, it's your part ! @davidblank1.bsky.social

The cold is brutal, combined with the wet. In Stallion Mountains, he decides to quit—he can't eat anymore. He admits his clothing wasn't suitable. All signs point to Mathieu planning to come back, and he believes he can finish if conditions are good. 10/10 #BM100

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A quarter into the loop, they reach Philips Creek, another climb. That's where Mathieu decides to break away, hoping to push beyond a Fun Run. Damian tries to follow but falls back. Mathieu moves through the books but the rain, wind,and even snow, intensifies at Bald Knob. 9/10 #BM100

Even though they run into the wild pigs nest. The runners are aware of the weather forecast and Mathieu changes clothes. They start clockwise on loop 3 and begin with Wrong Way ('in tribute' to Gary Robbins), a big climb. 8/10 #BM100

That leads into Rat Jaw. The group doesn't waste time looking for books. Mathieu starts feeling hypoglycemia coming on at the end of the loop but hangs on with the lead group. They finish the loop and head out on a second one without many mistakes thanks to Sébastien navigating. 7/10 #BM100

Mathieu describes a straightforward first climb on a switchback trail. John Kelly leads the group. Then the group climbs Chimney Top before descending Big Hell. The first book was at the bottom. Then they climb toward Zipline for the second book, the third was at the prison. 6/10 #BM100

But. The Barkley. To begin, some things that might interest David Blank. Here are the measurements Mathieu gives, taken before the race: about 40 km and 4600m elevation gain (roughly 25 miles and 15,000 feet). 5/10 #BM100

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I'll wrap up this intro by noting that Blanchard earned his spot through his Barkley Fall Classic win, yet he's been claiming since arriving (across 2 posts) that he kept his participation secret from everyone and trained in total secrecy. 4/110 #BM100

But there's always a lot of storytelling around him and it shows here too. Tears (many), blood, sweat, discipline. And tons of images. I'll address that in another post. www.instagram.com/mathieu__bla... 3/10 #BM100

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A former competitor on the French version of Survivor, Mathieu built his reputation in the trail world... and on social media where he's very active with his partner Alix Noblat. No criticism here—he's an incredible champion. 2/10 #BM100

Very long report from Mathieu Blanchard to read on Facebook and Instagram. Here's what he says. First off, Mathieu is very well-known in France. Along with Courtney Dauwalter, he's probably the biggest name to run Barkley. 1/10 #BM100

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He then talks about a book apparently at the top. Then Bald Knob. And after that, he doesn't see Damian anymore and notices his page wasn't torn out near Barley Mouth. 4/4

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They then worry about Damian—Mathieu wants more details. Sébastien says they didn't go down Meat Grinder together; Damian had pushed ahead and Sébastien needed to rest. Mathieu asks if he saw him again on Hillpocalypse. Sébastien says yes, at the bottom, and the Brit seemed fine. 3/4

Mathieu says Barkley in the rain is impossible. They then discuss the wild boar incident, which happened before book 2 (loop 2 or 3?). They ended up above a wild boar den, a family of about fifteen animals. They also mention hearing coyotes and seeing a skunk. 2/4

New video from Jegard, right after the finish. Very difficult to make out the conversation with all the background noise. I'm still impressed by how fresh both runners look (we're less than 30 minutes after Seb finished, as Damian hasn't arrived yet). 1/4 www.facebook.com/share/v/1B6F... #BM100

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Redirecting...

Thanks ! Just a very little correction for the first loop : Max King : 09:47:09 ... Andris Ansabergs : 09:47:11 ... Damian Hall a few minutes behind.

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Remy says to me : "His flight was delayed, he got to camp around 11 PM... for a 6 AM start the next morning, brutal.... he's a tough guy, multisport champion..." #BM100

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@taka-does-stuff.bsky.social Latvian guy is Andris Ansabergs : www.instagram.com/andrisansabe... You can perfectly see him on this video by Remy Jegard : www.facebook.com/share/v/1Fcn... #BM100

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Look at the 13th video in this post: www.instagram.com/p/DU1I55mEnH... You can see M. Blanchard, M. King, and Seb coming in from loop 1, in exactly the order Keith mentioned in his message: Chiseled Jaw Guy, Knee Guy, Old Guy.

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Last sentence : "On the last third of this first loop, we ended up as the only French runners with Mathieu, accompanied by the Englishman Damian Hall, the American Max King, and a Latvian with an unknown name!"

100% confirmed with this photo of her on ecam44's Instagram account. She's at the bottom in white.

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Je crois qu'on peut dire, sans prendre trop de risques, que la France est la meilleure nation actuelle au biathlon. #Olympics2026

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That's very odd because in his account, Sébastien Raichon specifically says he finished loop 1 with Mathieu Blanchard, Max King, Damian Hall, and the Latvian. I still believe 'knee guy' is Max King, considering his injury from last year. Perhaps Damian made a mistake.

'Pale Guy' was John Kelly. He did finish his loop with Chris Roberts. Compare what Keith said with the photo. Taka's sheet is good. 'Knee guy' was Max King.

Alix Noblat is Mathieu Blanchard's partner and she was there as his crew. Her post is about that experience.

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@taka-does-stuff.bsky.social A new name for this edition : Peter Mortimer from Flagstaff, Arizona. He ran with Jeff Garmire and Lee Alonzo Murphy and ended Loop 1 over the cutoff. His report is very interesting (for you too @davidblank1.bsky.social ) www.instagram.com/pjmortimer/ #BM100

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The woman facing the camera is Gina. The one from behind seems to be Stephanie Waskönig.

The video is here : www.instagram.com/p/DU1I55mEnH... It is the third from last. On the comments, Maggie says : '@furyrunner great video of you finishing' (@furyrunner is the Gina's account) With the video, we could see that Gina did a loop (or not) over the cut off. Idk if Maggie did the race.

J'apprends ce soir avec une grande tristesse le décès de Frederick Wiseman, grand maître du documentaire, de l'observation minutieuse des institutions et des Etats-Unis. Un regard franc, direct sublimé par son montage. Un sens de l'économie pour un cinéma naturel. Merci pour tout, maître.

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@taka-does-stuff.bsky.social The runner from Japan was Akihiro Maeda. He says that he didn't finish the first lap. #BM100

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You already have Paul Terranova, I don't see the name in a first time. But I have another name. With the german plate, it is a woman (video : @ecam44 on Instagram). And the plate is 'HG-SW-2026' from Bad Homburg. Well, for me it's Stephanie Walkoenig.

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