Speaker
We are excited to announce John Kelly as our Featured Speaker at our 2024 Event which will take place at the Host (Hotel Hilton Knoxville Airport )Ball Room on Friday Night after Packet Pickup! Scheduled To Be Announced Later!
John Kelly grew up adventuring through the dense mountains and forests around my family’s rural home in Morgan County, TN, constantly trying to keep up with his older brother and cousins. That grew into a love of exploration and a drive to continually challenge myself with goals that push my boundaries and that have failure as a probable outcome (without that possibility a goal is just a task). Mountain running allows him to do both of those things at once, and La Sportiva has helped him push further with fewer distractions from the real reasons I’m out there.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
Apr 2017 | Touching the yellow gate to become the 15th finisher of the Barkley Marathons, the moment that completely reset my belief of what was possible for me
Feb 2018 | Receiving not one, but two! jars of apple butter from Dennis Herr after completing the first-ever sub 24 hour run at The Wild Oak Trail 100 – 112 miles with over 30K feet of elevation gain3.
Jan + Jul 2020 | Kissing the wall of The Border Hotel in Kirk Yetholm to win The Spine Race in 88 hours in January, then returning in July to break a 31 year old record on the route in 64h 46m
Aug 2020 | Hobbling up to the summit cairn on Ben Nevis to check off the last summit of The Grand Round, a project I created myself that built upon my passions and pushed me to my absolute limits over 5 days of mountain running and cycling
John Kelly has just become the third ever runner to complete the Barkley Marathons on more than one occasion.
Each time I get to share these moments or stories of them with my unbelievably supportive family and the incredible ultrarunning community and see that passion for exploring the mountains spread just a bit further
Click Here to learn more about John Kelly’s accomplishments
Photo Credits To Josh Patton
