{"id":2689813,"date":"2024-12-03T05:00:35","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T12:00:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/?p=2689813"},"modified":"2024-12-11T14:30:08","modified_gmt":"2024-12-11T21:30:08","slug":"jasmin-paris-2024-barkley-marathons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/health\/training-performance\/jasmin-paris-2024-barkley-marathons\/","title":{"rendered":"Women Weren\u2019t \u201cTough Enough\u201d to Finish the Barkley Marathons\u2014Until Jasmin Paris Came Along"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a 2015 YouTube video, an interviewer asked Gary \u201cLaz\u201d Cantrell why no women had finished his race, the infamous Barkley Marathons in the rugged mountains of Tennessee. \u201cThe race is too hard for women,\u201d he replied with a sly grin. \u201cThey are simply not tough enough to do it, and I get to say that for as long as it goes that no one proves me wrong.\u201d Since the inception of the race\u2014which consists of five consecutive 20-plus-mile loops, hence \u201cmarathons\u201d\u2014in 1986, only 20 runners have finished. Until this year, all of them were men.<\/p>\n

On March 22, a crowd flanked a tree-lined road at a campground in Frozen Head State Park. Spectators aimed their cameras at a woman in a red shirt and black capris running as fast as she could. Jasmin Paris, 40, was covered in dirt and scratches, and she could barely keep her eyes open. When the Brit touched the chipped yellow gate\u2014in doing so becoming the first woman to ever finish the Barkley Marathons\u2014she folded in half and then crumpled to the ground. The clock read 59 hours, 58 minutes, 21 seconds. Paris had attempted the Barkley on two previous occasions; in 2023, she became only the second woman ever to make it to the fourth lap. This year she completed all 100 unmarked, mostly off-trail miles, including approximately 65,000 feet of elevation gain, with just 99 seconds to spare before the 60-hour cutoff. Photographers closed in around her as her chest heaved and she gasped for air, capturing the soon-to-be widely shared images of the moment her life changed.<\/p>\n

\"Paris
Paris quickly cooling off at the Barkley Marathons<\/span> (Photo: Howie Stern)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

While the Barkley finish supercharged Paris\u2019s notoriety\u2014she made headlines in numerous media outlets and received an honor from the British royal family\u2014she\u2019s no stranger to long-distance success. In 2019, Paris became the first woman to win the 268-mile Montane Spine Race in the UK, breaking the course record by 12 hours even after stopping to pump breast milk for her 14-month-old daughter. Paris is a mother of two young children and a lecturer in the School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh, where she specializes in small-animal internal medicine. Her training for the Barkley took place during Scotland\u2019s cold, wet winter in the early hours before her kids woke up.<\/p>\n

Paris told the BBC that she ran her race for women around the world: \u201cNot just runners but any woman that wants to take on a challenge that maybe doesn\u2019t have the confidence. The idea that I might have inspired them to believe in themselves and have a go\u2014that\u2019s huge.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A veterinarian by day and ultrarunner by night, Paris became the first woman to complete the notoriously hard race this year<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44696,"featured_media":2689900,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"uuid":"5518098ab04a8963e5c88c05b713a359","footnotes":""},"categories":[2553],"tags":[2653,2616,2613,3006],"byline":[1236],"ad_cat":[],"legacy-category":[],"class_list":["post-2689813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-training-performance","tag-athletes","tag-endurance-training","tag-running","tag-ultrarunning","cluster-2024-outsiders-of-the-year","byline-anna-callaghan"],"acf":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Women Weren\u2019t \u201cTough Enough\u201d to Finish the Barkley Marathons\u2014Until Jasmin Paris Came Along","url":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/health\/training-performance\/jasmin-paris-2024-barkley-marathons\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/health\/training-performance\/jasmin-paris-2024-barkley-marathons\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/outsiders-of-the-year-2024-paris_h-150x150.jpg","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/cdn.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/outsiders-of-the-year-2024-paris_h.jpg"},"articleSection":"Training & Performance","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"jversteegh"}],"creator":["jversteegh"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Online","logo":"https:\/\/www.outsideonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/favicon-194x194-1.png"},"keywords":["athletes","endurance training","running","ultrarunning"],"dateCreated":"2024-12-03T12:00:35Z","datePublished":"2024-12-03T12:00:35Z","dateModified":"2024-12-11T21:30:08Z"},"rendered":"