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British Ultrarunner Jasmin Paris became the first woman to complete what is widely known as the world’s toughest race, The Barkley Marathons, on Friday.
Paris is now one of just 20 other people—all men—to complete the 100-mile (160 km) course, which includes around 16,500 metres of elevation (twice the height of Mount Everest) within the 60-hour time limit.
But Paris, a 40-year-old mother of two and senior veterinary lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, made it over the finish line with just 99 seconds to spare before the 60-hour cut off.
The Barkley Marathons, also known as ‘the race that eats its young’ is held annually at Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee, and involves five torturous loops of around 20 miles (32km).
The race makes it extremely hard for its competitors to finish with no aid stations, apart from water at two places, and runners only allowed to use compass’s and basic maps to navigate the park.
This was Paris’ third attempt at the race, having already won the UK’s Montane Spine Race along the Pennine Way in 2019, the Dragon’s Back Race and set records for the Bob Graham and Ramsay Rounds.
For Paris, this win was for “women worldwide.”
“I did it for me and I’m super happy that I achieved what I set out to do after the three years of trying,” Paris told the BBC.
“But I’m glad that I kind of did it for women worldwide as well– not just runners– but any woman that wants to take on a challenge and maybe doesn’t have the confidence.
“The idea that I might have inspired them to believe in themselves… that’s huge, especially all the young girls– you know how hard it is to keep young girls in sports.”
Paris’ win also proves the races’ creator, Gary ‘Laz’ Cantrell, wrong.
“The race is too hard for women,” Laz said on camera in 2015. “They’re simply not tough enough to do it. And I get to say that for as long as it goes that no woman proves me wrong.”
“When a woman finishes, I’ll be excited. I’ll regret that I can’t tell women that it can’t be done anymore.”
Despite making sporting history, Paris isn’t slowing down anytime soon.
She’s already planning to tackle the Scottish Islands Peaks Race in May and then the Tor des Géants in Italy in September.
