DOING THE IMPOSSIBLE

This March, JASMIN PARIS completed the Barkley Marathons with 99 seconds to spare, making her the first woman to finish one of ultrarunning’s most colourful – and brutal – races

Jasmin Paris looks like she has nothing left to give. Flanked by cheering spectators, the Brit wobble-runs out of the Tennessee woods before collapsing at the yellow fire gate that marks the start and end of the notoriously brutal Barkley Marathons. With a minute and change to spare, she has just made history as the first woman ever to finish the race.

Founded by US race designer Gary Cantrell – aka ‘Lazarus Lake’ – in 1986, the invite-only Barkley comprises five steep loops, each roughly 32km in length. The trail, which changes annually, includes obstacles such as Danger Dave’s Climbing Wall (a sandy area of exposed roots) and Rat Jaw (a slope of razor-sharp briars). Lake starts the race close to midnight by lighting a cigarette. The 40 lucky runners have 60 hours to complete their laps, collecting pages from books left at checkpoints along the route. In March this year, only five finished. Paris, 40, is used to superhuman feats: she got into ultrarunning in 2008 after falling in love with the Scottish fells, and in 2019 she became the first woman to win the UK’s 430km Montane Spine Race. The same year, Paris received the Barclays Sportswoman of the Year Award, with judges citing her athletic achievements and her career as a senior veterinary clinical lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. And she isn’t done yet…

The Red Bulletin: How is it possible to balance being a parent, an awardwinning academic and a recordbreaking ultrarunner?

Jasmin Paris: It isn’t easy. My work can be stressful – you often don’t get time to think – so running is a good mental release. In terms of logistics, that 5-to-7am slot is the best time to train – nobody calls you in for an oesophageal foreign body in a dog at 5am.

When did you start focusing on ultras?

It’s difficult to travel with young kids, so I shifted to focus on doing bigger events and making them count. Lazarus Lake invited me to take part in Barkley after the Montane Spine Race in 2019. It wasn’t until around summer ’21 that I had the desire to do it. Then I was all in.

What changed?

The challenge of doing something regarded as virtually impossible. Putting in the effort to see what you’re capable of. All the mystique [like Lake’s unique ‘starting pistol’] is part of what makes it Barkley, but you have to just focus on running.

This was your third attempt, having failed to finish in 2022 and 2023. What was different this time around?

I had experience. Barkley isn’t just dependent on your navigational skills; it’s about learning the route on the course and making mistakes. You might drop into the wrong gully [while] looking for a book, or you can literally run off the wrong side of a mountain. After my first try, I thought, “This is possible; it’s just going to take a lot of work.” This year, I found I could pre-empt a lot of those mistakes or correct them before they became a disaster.

What was the toughest part?

There were so many times I wanted to stop. The first two loops were alright, then loop three and four were really mentally hard, knowing I’d have to do it again. Loop five was better, because I was doing things for the last time. You go from one pain to another; at the end, it was my tendons in my left leg that hurt most. I was also struggling to eat, so I felt really sick. And there was a new section that was really thick with brambles – worse than Rat Jaw – so that was pretty miserable.

You’ve said you hallucinate during long races. Is that scary?

Not really; it happens every time you go without sleep. Once you’ve had a few hallucinations during a particular race, you get good at realising it’s not real. The only thing that confused me this year was seeing people in black mackintoshes up on a ridge, and for a while I did believe that was real. You get used to it.

You said every fibre of your being was telling you to stop before you reached the finish line. How do you keep going?

I was massively driven by the thought I might finish over [the allowed] time and have to do it all again [next year]. I knew I wouldn’t lay it to rest until I’d finished. I wanted to give it everything I had. Now I get why people collapse metres from the finish line. I’ve never had to dig so deep.

What does it mean to be the first woman ever to finish Barkley?

I’ve never really considered that what I can do is any different to what a man can. The fact that I was a woman wasn’t in any way a barrier in my mind. But I’m incredibly happy to be able to inspire women and girls in sport.

Do you feel pressure to do something bigger next time?

I’m running the Tor des Géants [in the Italian Alps] in September. But I don’t think I’d do Barkley again, because I’ve [completed] it. So no, zero pressure. I’ve proven what I can do.