The Endurance Artist

Lazarus Lake, the Barkley & a Race with No End

By: Jared Beasley

Narrated by: Steve Quinn

A rare look into an enigmatic accountant from the Tennessee backwoods who morphs into Lazarus Lake, the world’s most notorious race maker.

The Endurance Artist is an all-access pass to the world’s most grueling races and the mastermind behind them.

Gary Cantrell, better known by the nom de guerre Lazarus Lake, has been described as a “hillbilly genius” and the “Leonardo di Vinci of pain.” His Barkley Marathons is considered the most difficult ultramarathon ever devised, a fight club in the wilderness run in secret. With books hidden in the woods, a cigarette-start, and elevation gain that amounts to summiting Mount Everest twice, the Barkley defies convention. Big’s Backyard Ultra pushes human beings to their absolute limit on a four-mile loop that is run every hour starting on the hour until there is just one runner standing—most recently, a high school teacher who ran 450 miles without sleep.

Author Jared Beasley uncovers the world of a recluse hell-bent on rewriting the rules to reveal a life reimagined and failure reinvented. Laz calls into question our obsession with winning and fairness, success and failure, and whether these ideas handicap potential.

©2025 Jared Beasley (P)2025 Dreamscape Media

Finally, insight to such a mysterious man.

A niche book, for those that know, it bolsters all your viewpoints. Not an ultra runner, don’t be afraid of this book, it’s terrific insight to a unique man.
The subject man has extracted more from a person than they ever could have produced on their own.

He’s quirky and thought provoking!

Don’t miss out. Well written, fast and swift read.