Name: The Endurance Artist - Laz
Start: 2025-09-14T18:00:00-05:00
Location: Monte Sano Lodge

Register for free dinner here: https://runsignup.com/Race/AL/Huntsville/TheEnduranceArtistLazarusLake
Fleet Feet is excited to bring The Endurance Artist - Laz to Huntsville, AL.
This is a FREE event sponsored by Fleet Feet. We will provide Taco Mama and drinks. Please sign up in advance so we know how much food to order. Everyone is welcome. You are welcome to come if you don't eat. This is just to help us prepare for food.
Limited to the first 100 guest.
Join fellow runners and ultrarunners for an evening filled with incredible conversation between ultrarunning’s iconic race director, Lazarus Lake and author and journalist Jared Beasley, moderated by Lisa Watkins of the Behind the Bib Podcast. Beasley's new book on Lazarus Lake, The Endurance Artist, will be available for purchase. This is your chance to get it two days before it launches, and have Laz sign your copy.
Book Description:
An instant Amazon bestseller, The Endurance Artist explores the life and creations of Lazarus Lake, the elusive race director behind the Barkley Marathons and Big's Backyard Ultra. He's been called everything from a hillbilly genius to the Leonardo da Vinci of Pain. The Barkley is widely regarded as the most demanding ultramarathon ever devised. Runners hunt for books hidden in the Tennessee wilderness. No GPS. No pacers. Success rate near zero. The Backyard Ultra is perhaps crueler—a four-mile loop run every hour on the hour. Last one standing.
For journalist Jared Beasley, the journey began with a simple question: What makes you quit? When all roads led to Lazarus Lake, a series of eccentric tests followed, and a straightforward biography morphed into something else altogether.
Embedded at the 2023 Barkley and Backyard World Championship, Beasley strips away the brutality to reveal the surprising humanity at the heart of these trials. The Endurance Artist paints a portrait of the architect in full: aimless hippie, hospital orderly, and volunteer coach who took the simple idea that failure has to hurt and turned it into an art form. One that would challenge our fundamental ideas of pain and potential.
Author Bio:
Beasley is a Decatur native and has written for The New York Times, Runner's World, Ultrarunning Magazine, and The Guardian. His first book, In Search of Al Howie, was awarded the Kirkus Star for literary merit. He holds a degree in Theatre and Literature from the University of Alabama.
Signed copies of "The Endurance Artist" will be available for purchase on-site, and 100% of ticket proceeds will benefit Feeding America, one of Laz’s favorite charities.