“Due to a lack of oxygen, I could no longer see or hear anything”: Jasmin Paris, first woman ever to finish in the toughest ultra run, tells her story

“Due to a lack of oxygen, I could no longer see or hear anything”: Jasmin Paris, first woman ever to finish in the toughest ultra run, tells her story | More Sports

British Jasmin Paris (40), the first woman ever to reach the finish of the Barkley Marathons, has responded to her powerful punch for the first time. She had just one minute and 39 seconds to spare in one of the toughest ultra runs in the world this weekend. “I had such a shortage of oxygen at the time that I could no longer hear or see anything around me.” Only twenty different athletes have reached the finish line in the history of the Barkley Marathons, including one Belgian: Karel Sabbe.

LOOK. After the finish, Jasmin Paris lies completely exhausted on the ground

Barkley Marathons is a household name. And according to many, the world’s toughest ultra run. In the deep forests of Tennessee, USA, participants must complete five loops of 20 miles (32 kilometers) on an unsigned off-road route. Or a total of about 160 kilometers. Each loop must be completed within a 12-hour time limit. The total time limit is 60 hours. Along the way, 18,000 meters of altitude are conquered. To make things even more difficult, there is barely two hours of sleep between each loop.

In short: the Barkley Marathons is only for a select group. Since 1989 – when the race was first organized over 160 kilometers – only twenty different athletes have reached the finish line. Last year, Karel Sabbe was the first Belgian to complete the ultra run. The year before he had had to give up while still hallucinating and completely disoriented. A mental and physical ordeal.

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The Barkley Marathons took place again last week. This time no fewer than five participants reached the finish line – a record. But it really became history in sports: for the first time a woman was able to compete in the insane ultra run.

The British Jasmin Paris (40) attracted a lot of attention. After a good start, she was in danger of just missing the time limit during the last loop. She continued with character and finished in 59h58’21”. An excess of one minute and 39 seconds. Loudly encouraged, she completed the last meters, after which she collapsed completely empty on the ground. Not illogical after such an effort.

“Inspire”

She responded for the first time at BBC. “In the last kilometers I started to doubt whether I would make it. I really wanted to quit. But I realized that if I gave up, I would return next year. Because I know myself.” So she persevered. Against the time limit. “I only had a few minutes left to walk up the last hill. I decided to just sprint. At that moment I was so deprived of oxygen that I saw or heard nothing around me for the last hundred meters. There was a lot of noise, but I focused on the finish. Everything else was a blur.”

All finishers this year

Paris hopes she has inspired women. “I wanted to inspire others. Not just runners, but any woman who wants to take on a challenge and may not have the confidence to do so. The idea that I might have inspired them to believe in themselves… that’s huge. Especially for all young girls – you know how difficult it is to get and keep them involved in sports.”

The Canadian Ihor Verys was the fastest this year with a time of 58h44’59”. The record is still held by the American Brett Maune. In 2012 he completed the race in a fantastic time of 52h03’08”.