British ultrarunner Jasmin Paris becomes first-ever woman to finish 60-hour Barkley Marathons

The 40-year-old had fewer than 100 seconds to spare before the cut-off when she made it back to the gate

(Paul Dobson/Wikipedia)

British ultrarunner Jasmin Paris became the first woman ever to finish the Barkley Marathons 100-mile race on Friday, completing one of the most challenging ultra marathons in the world with 99 seconds to spare in the 60-hour cut-off.

Paris was one of five ultrarunners to complete the annual race held in Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee that has seen no finishers in more than half the races in its nearly four-decade history. Paris, who finished the race in 59:58:21, had completed the race’s 60-mile “fun run” version in 2022. She ran last year as well, but could not finish the race in time - though set a women’s record in the process for starting loop four.

The 40-year-old ultrarunner, a veterinarian scientist in Edinburgh and a mother of two, previously broke the course record for the Montane Spine Race in Northern England by 12 hours in 2019.

The Barkley Marathons, created by Gary Cantrell and Karl Henn in 1986, was inspired by the escape of James Earl Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King, who ran about 12 miles in 54.5 hours from a nearby prison in 1977.

The ultramarathon was extended from 55 to 100 miles in 1989. Its current course consists of five loops of 20 miles each around the park with a climb and descent of 54,200 feet - for context, the summit of Mount Everest is 29,000 feet.

There are no aid stations in the course, except water at two places.

Runners complete five loops, at times in the dark and with no set start time known by athletes ahead of the race. To ensure they have completed the course correctly - armed with only a map and compass, but no GPS watch or other technology - contenders have to rip pages out of books along the way and produce them back at the gate at the end of each loop.

Mark Williams became the first runner to finish the race within its 60-hour cut-off time in 1995. A total of 20 people have finished the race in its entire history, with Jared Campbell, who was third this year, doing it a record four times.

Brett Maune holds the record for the fastest finish with a time of in 52:03:08 in 2012. This year’s winner, Canada-based Ukrainian Ihor Varys, clocked 58:44:59.

Additional reporting by Reuters