2017 Barkley finisher John Kelly runs London Marathon

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh4bj-IlujD/

John Kelly, one of the only people to ever finish the Barkley Marathons, ran the London Marathon on Sunday, finishing in 2:42:40. In 2017, he became just the 15th finisher of the Barkley, a gruelling 100-miler in the Tennessee mountains. The time in London was a new marathon PB for Kelly.

The data scientist, ultrarunner and triathlete from Rockville, Md. (near Washington, D.C.), Kelly was in London for work, and planned to run the marathon. It was his first “normal” marathon since 2016, when he not only set a Guinness World Record for the fastest time running the Boston Marathon dressed as a video game character, but he did it two weeks after attempting the Barkley that year, and he set a PB (2:57).

I wasn't planning on doing one of these, but it was actually pretty fun and useful to look back over the last year and collect my thoughts on what I want to do in the future.https://t.co/GNNPR1BhyO

— John Kelly (@RndmForestRunnr) January 5, 2018

In an Instagram post before Sunday’s race, he predicted that his “average improvement per marathon [was] about to take a big hit.” Certainly it was not as great as his previous improvements, but still, two minutes off his time, and a PB to boot, is a pretty good result for the hottest London Marathon on record.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bhz4O7JFUpE/

Kelly joked on Twitter on April 1 that he was giving up triathlon training to move his family to a canal boat in London so he could “swim commute everywhere.”

Effective immediately, I'm leaving ultrarunning and triathlon to focus on my true passion: open water swimming. To facilitate this, we'll be moving to a canal boat in London so that I can swim commute everywhere. #ultraswimming #pursueyourpassion

— John Kelly (@RndmForestRunnr) April 1, 2018

Kelly says it’s now back to training for the upcoming triathlon season.