An Interview With Tailwind Athlete John Kelly

John Kelly is most known as a three-time finisher of the Barkley Marathons. A relatively unknown runner at the time, he became the 15th person to ever finish Barkley in 2017. He has also tackled several Fastest Known Times on iconic UK routes like the Pennine Way and the Wainwrights, and won the Montane Winter Spine Race in 2020. Kelly was also a competitive triathlete for a few years and set a Guinness World Record for fastest marathon dressed as a videogame character, running the Boston Marathon dressed as Link from Zelda a few weeks after Barkley in 2016. 

John spent his early childhood in Wartburg, TN where for over 200 years his family has been looking up at the mountains of  Frozen Head State Park, where Barkley now takes place each spring. John has an amazing wife, Jessi, and four kids. Most notably he is the inventor of the Krispy Bo. 

How did you discover Tailwind? 

My stomach has definitely never been one of my strengths, and after many big goals were hindered or even derailed entirely by not being able to get (and keep) enough calories down, I decided to give Tailwind a try. The liquid calories work really well for me, I enjoy the taste, and having a good mix of hydration, calories, and electrolytes as my nutrition base gives me one less thing to have to think about during events that have so many variables and when my fatigued and sleep-deprived brain isn’t thinking well.

As a father with a full-time job who sets their sights on some of the world's toughest races and routes, how do you balance everything? 

This has definitely been a learning process as both my goals and our family has grown. When I worked in an office, nearly all my weekday miles were as my commute. I’m fortunate now to be able to work remotely with a flexible schedule so I fit in my runs around family activities, ideally while the kids are at school. But in all cases I try to have my family be a part of it, whether that’s long destination runs where we meet for a fun day out, choosing events that fit around family activities, or having them be a part of it (e.g. coming along for a long FKT or choosing events that would make fun vacation destinations). That involvement has to start at the planning and decision stage - no surprises! I’m also quite fortunate to have an incredibly supportive wife and a job that has been able to provide for us financially so that my family has the flexibility and freedom to be a part of these adventures. Some people have more constraints than I do, some fewer. The best any of us can do is to try to optimize for our own life and circumstances.

As someone who has finished the Barkley multiple times, arguably the hardest race on the planet, do you even have a white whale? Is there a race or running goal that you feel is the hardest thing you can go for? Something you are not sure you can accomplish?

Tor Des Geants is definitely that race that I just can’t seem to find success at. It’s probably the most beautiful course I’ve been on, an incredible area, and I absolutely love the race. But I’ve DNF’d in two out of four attempts (nearly the same DNF rate as Barkley for me), and in those two finishes I haven’t done nearly as well as I’d like. Otherwise, most of my other big goals are more constrained by time or other practical considerations. The Appalachian Trail has always been my holy grail, but I’ve never had the time to go for it.

You moved to the UK in 2019 and moved back a couple of years ago.  Can you talk about your time there and what led to the decision to move back? What do you miss about it the UK and what do you love most about being back in the US?

Our time in the UK is something my family and I will always cherish. We moved for my job, and it was always planned to be about three years. So when that time was up we came back to where we want to remain. We got to experience a different culture and meet amazing people, see beautiful places and explore a rich history, and of course sample a lot of new foods. The ultrarunning community there is very authentic, supportive, and tight knit, which I was able to experience firsthand on adventures like the Pennine Way, Wainwrights, and Grand Round. What I miss most is the incredible network of public rights of way and open land that they have - it’s possible to go between nearly any two places in the country without ever going on a road, just crossing fields, mountains, shorelines, and wonderful little towns along the way. Also, I miss tips and taxes being built in to the prices.

But we’re glad we’re back in the US, mainly to be close to family, and also for our kids to know our own culture’s traditions, quirks, and foods. I also now really appreciate getting to share those things with foreign friends when they visit, like with the large UK contingent at Barkley the last few years. I might not have the ubiquitous footpaths between any two points, but I now do have true wilderness - where I can go out and explore areas that are truly untouched and isolated.

Please explain to us what a Krispy Bo is and how you developed it.

I actually wrote an entire blog post on this many years ago, and followed it up with a closely related post on my favorite desserts. Put simply, it’s a monstrosity I created a decade ago by making a sandwich out of two Krispy Kreme doughnuts and a Bojangles’ cajun filet patty. I reserved it as a delicacy for after my big races, and there are many variations of it based on local availability of doughnuts and chicken. In the UK I created the Fish n’ Scones variant. There have also been many copycats, including at some restaurants, but that’s fine. The KrispyBo is about big goals, creativity, and an epic chance of failure. The perfect culinary equivalent of my running adventures.

What are you most looking forward to this year? 

I’ve reached the point in my career where I’m able to step back a bit from my day job at Envelop Risk, the company I helped start nearly a decade ago, to focus a bit more on seeing what I’m capable of as a runner. I’m looking forward to finding out, whatever it might be!

Cover Photo By Howie Stern