Mark AgnewJasmin Paris, the first woman to finish the Barkley Marathon. Photo: Gary Robbins
Jasmin Paris becomes the first woman to finish 'The Marathon That Eats Its Young'
A British ultra runner has become the first woman to finish the notorious Barkley Marathon, considered one of, if not the, most difficult ultra marathon on earth.
The Barkley Marathon in Tennessee consists of five 20 mile loops. Runners have 60 hours to finish. Jasmin Paris, 40, from Edinburgh, finished in 59 hours, 58 minutes and 21 seconds - with just 99 seconds to spare.
Paris has already attempted the Barkley in 2022 and 2023, completing three and four loops respectively. She was the first woman since 2001 to start a fourth loop.
Each loop is completed in alternating directions, until the last loop. Then, if two runners start at the same time, they are sent in opposite directions so they cannot run together - to make it more difficult.
Paris and another runner, American Jared Kelly, were due to start at the same time. Kelly magnanimously offered Paris the clockwise round, which is considered slightly easier.
Kelly went on to finish too. This was his third finish.
Paris made headlines in 2019 for her victory in the Spine Race, a 268 mile race along the UK's Pennie Way in the depths of winter. She has numerous other accolades including records for the Bob Graham Round and the Ramsay Round, two famous routes in the UK.
The Barkley Marathon started in 1986. Initially, it was 50-55 miles long and took two years for anyone to finish. It was extended to 100 miles in 1989 and it took another six years before anyone completed the 100 mile distance. Since then, it has been completed 26 times by 20 runners. There were five finishers this year, including Paris.
The Barkley Marathon is the brain child of Gary "Lazarus Lake" Cantrell and Karl Henn. The race takes place near Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary, where Martin Luther King's assassin, James Earl Ray, was held. In 1977, Ray escaped and made it just 12 miles in 54 hours.
Cantrell said to Henn he could make it 100 miles in 60 hours over the same rough terrain. The race was born.
The event has caught the imagination of the running community because it is so gruelling and the entry process is bizarre too. In fact, it's a secret. Cantrell says if you want to enter, you'll work it out.
Once runners work out when and who to apply to, they send an essay stating "Why I Should be Allowed to Run in the Barkley," pay a $1.60 application fee and complete other requirements. The latter requirements change each year depending on what Cantrell needs - if he needs new socks or a shirt, for example, a runner might be required to send him those items in his size.
The race is starts when Cantrell lights a cigarette and a bugle is played whenever someone drops out.
Runners can make notes or maps as they please but once it starts, they are expected to navigate only with their notes and no electronic or external help. There are books around the course, and runners have to rip a specific page from the book corresponding to their number, as proof they've made that checkpoint.
The race was the focus of a Netflix documentary 'The Race That Eats Its Young'.