1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 2: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 2: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 2: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 6 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:37,519 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Picture the scene with me. 7 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:42,120 Speaker 2: It's midwinter nineteen eighteen. The hospital ward is packed this season, 8 00:00:42,479 --> 00:00:46,159 Speaker 2: row upon row of ailing patients, light trembling, unable to 9 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,680 Speaker 2: raise their heads, their faces fixed, eyes glazed, caught between 10 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:54,120 Speaker 2: sleep and waking in an unnatural half dream state. Each 11 00:00:54,160 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 2: suffers from a disease that doctors have not yet understood, 12 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:03,360 Speaker 2: encephalitis lethargica, or simply an illness concurrent with the influenza 13 00:01:03,560 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 2: just beginning to sweep the globe. But this disease, el 14 00:01:07,200 --> 00:01:11,720 Speaker 2: affecting between one and five million people worldwide, manifests differently 15 00:01:12,040 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 2: intense sleepwalking, ocular disturbances, and a motor skill impairment. Many 16 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 2: permanently developed Parkinson's like symptoms, and they call it the 17 00:01:21,400 --> 00:01:24,760 Speaker 2: sleeping sickness, and it kills between ten to thirty percent 18 00:01:24,920 --> 00:01:28,120 Speaker 2: of people infected. The first documented. 19 00:01:27,600 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: Cases came in nineteen sixteen, when Saint Petersburg, Paris, and 20 00:01:31,360 --> 00:01:36,160 Speaker 1: Vienna simultaneously reported an illness characterized by severe fatigue, fever, 21 00:01:36,480 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: and a disturbing ability to stay awake. It was thought 22 00:01:39,720 --> 00:01:42,640 Speaker 1: that refugees and soldiers of the Great War helped to 23 00:01:42,680 --> 00:01:46,280 Speaker 1: spread the disease across Europe. As cases rose, health officials 24 00:01:46,360 --> 00:01:50,720 Speaker 1: issued advisories that newspapers amplified, prompting the creation of isolation 25 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,559 Speaker 1: wards to contain the influx of patients suffering, and citywide quarantines, 26 00:01:56,120 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: and naturally, the doctors were baffled, thinking that it might 27 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,520 Speaker 1: be influenza or meningitis. Some even believe that it was 28 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: a form of mass psychiatric catatonia. Yet the profound lethargy, 29 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 1: involuntary eye rolling, muscle rigidity, and tremors didn't point to 30 00:02:11,440 --> 00:02:14,600 Speaker 1: any known illness, and so they prescribed what they could 31 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:19,520 Speaker 1: rest bromides and watchful care in the hospital. Into this 32 00:02:19,560 --> 00:02:23,880 Speaker 1: confusion stepped Constantine von Econimo, a neurologist from the University 33 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: of Vienna. His background in sleep research made him particularly 34 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:31,200 Speaker 1: adept at figuring out the problem of the epidemic. Through autopsies, 35 00:02:31,240 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 1: he was able to discover inflammation of the basal ganglia, 36 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:37,679 Speaker 1: a region of the brain that regulates movement and behavior, 37 00:02:37,960 --> 00:02:41,880 Speaker 1: causing tremors and difficulties in movement. Over the course of time, 38 00:02:42,080 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: these acute symptoms progressed into a Parkinson's like chronic illness. 39 00:02:46,400 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 1: Van Econimo published a series of studies on the disease, 40 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,440 Speaker 1: finally putting a name to it, the one I gave 41 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:55,560 Speaker 1: you earlier, Encephalitis lethargica. The work was crucial to not 42 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,920 Speaker 1: just understanding EL but also for future research into neuro 43 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:02,880 Speaker 1: infectious diseases in general. In the mid nineteen twenties, the 44 00:03:02,880 --> 00:03:05,880 Speaker 1: influx of new cases had abruptly declined, and by the 45 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:09,040 Speaker 1: end of nineteen twenty seven it had virtually disappeared from 46 00:03:09,080 --> 00:03:12,560 Speaker 1: hospital wards all over, and of course, many explanations were 47 00:03:12,600 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 1: put forward for this decline in cases. Maybe it was 48 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:19,160 Speaker 1: possible that the population had acquired herd immunity, so the 49 00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:21,959 Speaker 1: disease was finding it harder and harder to find a host. 50 00:03:22,400 --> 00:03:26,239 Speaker 1: Another theory is that, like the Spanish influenza, it had mutated, 51 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 1: creating less virulent strains. Many recovered, although one percent of 52 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: patients did not, instead entering a chronic phase of the 53 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,160 Speaker 1: illness that lasted for years. Decades later, a small handful 54 00:03:37,200 --> 00:03:40,200 Speaker 1: of these chronic sufferers remained in a catatonic sort of 55 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,840 Speaker 1: fugue state, unable to speak or move. At Beth Abraham 56 00:03:43,880 --> 00:03:47,040 Speaker 1: Hospital in New York, a young neurologist named Oliver Sachs 57 00:03:47,120 --> 00:03:50,200 Speaker 1: observed patients that seemed to exhibit the same basal ganglia 58 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: condition that von Acanamo had first discovered. With more research 59 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:56,560 Speaker 1: at his back, he thought that perhaps the symptoms were 60 00:03:56,560 --> 00:04:00,400 Speaker 1: caused by a deficiency of dopamine, a neurotransmitter of the works 61 00:04:00,440 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: as a sort of chemical messenger in the body, and 62 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:06,160 Speaker 1: so he gave his patients a drug called Leveedopa to 63 00:04:06,320 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: boost their dopamine. The results were almost instantaneous and absolutely shocking. 64 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: Patients began waking up from the catatonia they had been 65 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:18,160 Speaker 1: experiencing four years. They were able to move, walk, speak, 66 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: and express emotions. Although this was a temporary relief for 67 00:04:21,880 --> 00:04:26,159 Speaker 1: sufferers of el a revolutionized treatment and advanced the field's 68 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:30,359 Speaker 1: understanding of dopamine's role in the brain. Years later, Sachs 69 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,839 Speaker 1: would publish a book on the experiments called Awakenings, which 70 00:04:33,960 --> 00:04:37,840 Speaker 1: agreed with von Economo's studies, adding more modern information into 71 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:39,919 Speaker 1: the mix, and the book was even made into a 72 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:43,120 Speaker 1: famous film of the same name, starring Robin Williams as 73 00:04:43,160 --> 00:04:46,200 Speaker 1: Oliver Sachs and Robert de Niro as one of his patients. 74 00:04:46,360 --> 00:04:49,120 Speaker 1: The film was nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars, 75 00:04:49,160 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: scoring two statues for its writing and editing. The Sleeping 76 00:04:53,160 --> 00:04:56,640 Speaker 1: sickness has not returned in any real scale, although there 77 00:04:56,640 --> 00:04:59,080 Speaker 1: have been a number of scattered cases over the years 78 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:02,360 Speaker 1: that very much was zembled it and advances in imaging 79 00:05:02,440 --> 00:05:05,320 Speaker 1: things like MRIs and pet scans now allow doctors to 80 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: actually see how EL works on the brain in real 81 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: time and try new medications to curb the possibility of 82 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,560 Speaker 1: long term effects. Scientists are also using modern virus detecting 83 00:05:15,600 --> 00:05:18,159 Speaker 1: tools to hunt for any germs that may create a 84 00:05:18,240 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: similar effect in the infected. Honestly, science is utterly amazing. 85 00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:28,280 Speaker 1: Encephalitis lethargica stands as a singular, strange episode in modern 86 00:05:28,320 --> 00:05:32,400 Speaker 1: medical history, a pandemic that disappeared almost as quickly as 87 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:35,560 Speaker 1: it arrived. Of course, scientists today are still trying to 88 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,840 Speaker 1: fully understand the disease that affected so many. Because illnesses 89 00:05:39,960 --> 00:05:41,760 Speaker 1: may come and go, but as long as we have 90 00:05:41,880 --> 00:05:45,360 Speaker 1: skilled and experienced scientists to protect us. All of us 91 00:05:46,000 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 1: have hope. At the top of the page, the title 92 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: Letter of Condolence is written in shaky black ink. Beneath 93 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 1: it a short message explaining that your registration was approved. 94 00:06:09,680 --> 00:06:12,880 Speaker 1: You're one of forty applicants chosen to participate in this race, 95 00:06:13,240 --> 00:06:16,680 Speaker 1: hand selected out of thousands. The letter contains a set 96 00:06:16,680 --> 00:06:19,280 Speaker 1: of coordinates which will require you to trek deep into 97 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,760 Speaker 1: the Appalachian wilderness, beyond the reach of any GPS signal, 98 00:06:23,000 --> 00:06:25,360 Speaker 1: with no idea if you're going in the right direction, 99 00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 1: and that's just to get to the starting line. It 100 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,200 Speaker 1: may sound intense, but that's just what it's like for 101 00:06:31,240 --> 00:06:34,880 Speaker 1: the runners of the Barkley Marathons, the world's most mysterious 102 00:06:34,960 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: ultra marathon. Now, the word ultra marathon might sound redundant. 103 00:06:38,960 --> 00:06:41,680 Speaker 1: After all, running a marathon is an impressive feat all 104 00:06:41,720 --> 00:06:44,839 Speaker 1: on its own, but an ultra marathon, which refers to 105 00:06:44,880 --> 00:06:48,200 Speaker 1: any race longer than twenty six point two miles, is 106 00:06:48,279 --> 00:06:52,600 Speaker 1: more of an extreme sport. Barkley's Marathons were created by 107 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,640 Speaker 1: a lifelong runner named Lazarus, whose real name is Gary Cantrell. 108 00:06:57,080 --> 00:06:59,159 Speaker 1: It was created in partnership with a group of his 109 00:06:59,320 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: running buddies. But I have to tell you the origins 110 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:04,640 Speaker 1: of the race are a lot darker than one might expect. 111 00:07:05,240 --> 00:07:08,880 Speaker 1: The story begins with a failed prison escape. James Earl Ray, 112 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:12,320 Speaker 1: the man convicted of assassinating doctor Martin Luther King, Junior, 113 00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,280 Speaker 1: was held in a Memphis prison after his arrest in 114 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:19,000 Speaker 1: nineteen sixty eight. But James Earl Ray escaped prison almost 115 00:07:19,080 --> 00:07:22,240 Speaker 1: ten years later for a total of fifty four hours. 116 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,640 Speaker 1: Over the course of those fifty four hours, though, he 117 00:07:24,680 --> 00:07:28,520 Speaker 1: covered eight miles of wilderness before being recaptured. And this 118 00:07:28,680 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: is where the dark part of the story comes in. 119 00:07:30,920 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 1: Because doctor King was a civil rights visionary and legend, 120 00:07:34,800 --> 00:07:38,200 Speaker 1: and rather than lament his killer's escape, Gary Kentrell and 121 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:41,560 Speaker 1: his friends allegedly laughed about it. One man even said 122 00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:43,960 Speaker 1: that eight miles was a pathetic amount of distance to 123 00:07:44,040 --> 00:07:47,400 Speaker 1: run when you'd escaped prison, especially in fifty four hours. 124 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:50,560 Speaker 1: And Gary Cantrell himself well, he argued that in that 125 00:07:50,680 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: time through the same wilderness he could run one hundred 126 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: and from there. Gary Cantrell charted a rough path one loop, 127 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:01,840 Speaker 1: roughly twenty miles long, through uncharted at Balacha, covering dense brush, 128 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:06,040 Speaker 1: rocky inclines, and even a mountain trek. Contestants would complete 129 00:08:06,080 --> 00:08:09,240 Speaker 1: the twenty ish mile loop five times for an approximate 130 00:08:09,280 --> 00:08:12,120 Speaker 1: total of one hundred miles. With a cutoff time of 131 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: sixty hours, runners would risk exposure wild animals, sleep deprivation, dehydration, 132 00:08:18,120 --> 00:08:23,040 Speaker 1: and most significantly, going off course. In twenty seventeen, for example, 133 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: runner Gary Robbins missed the sixty hour cutoff time by 134 00:08:26,240 --> 00:08:29,080 Speaker 1: less than a minute after getting lost on his final lap, 135 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:32,200 Speaker 1: and in two thousand and six, one contestant became lost 136 00:08:32,280 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: only two miles into the race and spent thirty two 137 00:08:35,320 --> 00:08:37,640 Speaker 1: hours in the wilderness trying to find his way back. 138 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:41,680 Speaker 1: Since Barkley's marathons take place in protected forests and parks, 139 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:45,000 Speaker 1: spectators are not allowed on the course and strongly discouraged 140 00:08:45,240 --> 00:08:47,680 Speaker 1: even at the start or finish line. In fact, the 141 00:08:47,720 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: twenty mile course has only two water stations, and most 142 00:08:51,000 --> 00:08:54,920 Speaker 1: contestants never find either of them. Each lap begins and 143 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:57,720 Speaker 1: ends at a yellow trail gate, where Lazarus waits to 144 00:08:57,760 --> 00:09:01,160 Speaker 1: document each runner's time. Some runners nap for about twenty 145 00:09:01,160 --> 00:09:03,880 Speaker 1: minutes after each loop, the only rest they get during 146 00:09:03,880 --> 00:09:07,240 Speaker 1: the entire sixty hour race. The race also forbids the 147 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:10,840 Speaker 1: use of GPS. Instead, runners must use their own hand 148 00:09:10,920 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: drawn maps made from Cantrell's description of the route, which 149 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:19,160 Speaker 1: often includes sections named ratjaw or meat grinder. By now, 150 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:21,320 Speaker 1: you might be starting to see why Cantrell calls the 151 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:25,160 Speaker 1: registration tickets a letter of condolence. But how does anyone 152 00:09:25,160 --> 00:09:27,840 Speaker 1: know if a runner actually completes the course if no 153 00:09:27,880 --> 00:09:31,120 Speaker 1: one is around to watch. Well, every few miles, Cantrell 154 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:33,920 Speaker 1: places books somewhere along the route. At the start of 155 00:09:33,960 --> 00:09:36,920 Speaker 1: each twenty mile loop, Cantrell assigns runners a new page 156 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:39,960 Speaker 1: number they must collect from each book to prove they've 157 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:42,720 Speaker 1: completed the planned course. And I know that in theory 158 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:45,280 Speaker 1: that might not sound hard, but remember that these races 159 00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: don't take place on a trail. The Barkley Marathons require 160 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,520 Speaker 1: runners to complete the full course with almost no idea 161 00:09:51,559 --> 00:09:54,040 Speaker 1: if they're even on the right track. You might not 162 00:09:54,120 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 1: be surprised to hear that most years no one finishes 163 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,959 Speaker 1: the race at all, and Cantrell says that's just fine 164 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: with him. He knows that the event attracts the most 165 00:10:02,440 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: elite athletes and thinks failure is an important part of 166 00:10:05,520 --> 00:10:09,120 Speaker 1: their growth. As runners and as people. Twenty twenty four, 167 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:11,480 Speaker 1: is race set the record with the grand total of 168 00:10:11,559 --> 00:10:14,680 Speaker 1: five finishers. Two of the finishers had completed the race 169 00:10:14,760 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: in past years, but the most notable of the group 170 00:10:17,320 --> 00:10:20,640 Speaker 1: was Jasmine Paris. Jasmine became the first woman to complete 171 00:10:20,679 --> 00:10:23,600 Speaker 1: the race, finishing ninety nine seconds before. 172 00:10:23,320 --> 00:10:24,120 Speaker 2: The cutoff time. 173 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:27,360 Speaker 1: For most of us, this whole race probably sounds like 174 00:10:27,400 --> 00:10:29,640 Speaker 1: a nightmare, But if you're someone who's got what it 175 00:10:29,640 --> 00:10:32,839 Speaker 1: takes to run of Barkley's Marathon, the story might sound 176 00:10:32,920 --> 00:10:35,400 Speaker 1: like the challenge you've been looking for. And if you 177 00:10:35,480 --> 00:10:37,920 Speaker 1: do decide to sign up for the race, may I 178 00:10:38,040 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: offer you my own condolences. I hope you enjoyed today's 179 00:10:45,320 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: guided tour through the Cabinet of Curiosities. This show was 180 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: created by me Aaron Manke in partnership with iHeart Podcasts, 181 00:10:53,040 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 1: researched and written by the Grim and Mild team, and 182 00:10:55,559 --> 00:10:58,600 Speaker 1: produced by Jesse Funk. Learn more about the show and 183 00:10:58,679 --> 00:11:01,199 Speaker 1: the people who make it oh. If you're at Grimandmild 184 00:11:01,360 --> 00:11:04,720 Speaker 1: dot com slash Curiosities, you'll also find a link to 185 00:11:04,760 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: the official Cabinet of Curiosity's hardcover book, available in bookstores 186 00:11:08,760 --> 00:11:12,000 Speaker 1: and online as well as ebook and audiobook. And if 187 00:11:12,000 --> 00:11:15,319 Speaker 1: you're looking for an ad free option, consider joining our Patreon. 188 00:11:15,480 --> 00:11:18,440 Speaker 1: It's all the same stories, but without the interruption for 189 00:11:18,520 --> 00:11:21,400 Speaker 1: a small monthly fee. Learn more and sign up over 190 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:25,920 Speaker 1: at patreon dot com. Slash Grimandmild, and until next time, 191 00:11:26,679 --> 00:11:27,520 Speaker 1: stay curious.