On 22 March, a British runner became the first woman to ever complete a ‘sadistic torture race’.
Before this year, only 17 people had managed to complete the annual Barkley Marathons since 1989.
The race in Tennessee is well-known for being, well, challenging to say the least – with it being difficult to get into in the first place.
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Once runners have actually secured a spot, The Barkley Marathons see them face a whopping 100 miles with 60,000 feet of ascents and descents.
The equivalent of more than twice the height of Mount Everest, they have 60 hours to do five loops of the route.
Jasmin Paris took part in the ‘Fun Run’ of three loops back in 2022 before attempting the full thing last year. And when she returned this March, the mum-of-two was feeling ‘good’ and like her ‘training had been better’.
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The 40-year-old spoke to LADbible about her incredible achievement, revealing her darkest moment during the brutal 60-hour challenge.
She underwent intense training consisting of early morning runs, strength classes and plenty of time on the StairMaster but she gives a lot of credit to ‘self-belief’ getting her through.
But for the Edinburgh vet, the darkest part of the 'beautiful' and 'friendly' race came during the fourth loop as after doing it so many times ‘you know you’re gonna have to do it all over again’.
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“You’re really tired and still feel that you’ve got a real way to go and I ended up really struggling to eat on the fourth loop,” she explains.
“I felt really sick and inside, all my guts were really hurting. I just wanted to curl up on the floor in the forest and stay there so it was pretty hard to keep going.”
And yet, despite being in pain and feeling so tired, Paris still had the belief in herself that she could do it.
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Before facing the final loop, she managed to get in a three minute ‘power nap’.
“I don’t think I really slept though, but I sat in a chair with my eyes closed,” she recalls.
Despite the lack of sleep and experiencing ‘hallucinations’ she was also having ‘lots of laughs’ and snacking on pizza. It was only during the very last kilometre that Paris began to doubt herself.
The clock was ticking down on the Barkley, and she didn’t think she was going to make it to the finish line.
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“Inside I thought I’m going to give it everything, I’m either going to finish or I’m going to collapse - I was that committed,” she said. “I just emptied myself out completely. I did believe I was going to do it and that stayed with me all the way through but that last kilometre I doubted.”
And her mindset worked, Paris completed the Barkley Marathons in the nick of time – securing the amazing achievement in 59 hours, 58 minutes and 21 seconds.
Jess Battison