Jasmin Paris becomes first woman to complete Barkley Marathons

(NewsNation) — The Barkley Marathons in Morgan County, Tennessee, is equivalent to climbing up and down Mount Everest twice. Last week, runner Jasmin Paris became the first woman ever to finish the race.

Every year, participants are challenged to travel anywhere from 100 to 130 miles of hilly terrain in under 60 hours. This year, 40 people attempted it.

With just one minute and 39 seconds left to spare, the 40-year-old woman from Midlothian, Scotland, crossed the finish line. While she was one of five people to finish the timed marathon, only 20 people in total have completed the race since its extension to 100 miles in 1989, The New York Times reported.

“It was definitely really hard,” Paris said Wednesday on “Morning in America.” “But it feels fantastic now that I’ve managed to do it.”

The Barkley Marathons is known for its extreme conditions and rules, set up with torturous obstacles to discourage participants from finishing.

So, why subject oneself to the torture of this marathon?

Paris told NewsNation she participated in it because she just simply likes to take on challenges she’s not quite sure she can achieve.

“I find it kind of tantalizing to find out whether I can. And I know you know, when you do something like this, you know that you’re gonna find yourself up against the wall,” she said.

In 2022 and 2023, Paris attempted to complete the race but failed. However, she became the first woman to reach the fourth lap since 2001, according to the NYT report.

This time, she finally succeeded.

“Afterward, you feel a fantastic sense of achievement when you do go through those moments of real suffering,” she said. “And there’s a real sense of camaraderie afterward — an understanding of one another.”

Paris recalled the moment she made it to the finish line, calling it fantastic.

She explained that the moment before she finished the race, she realized there were only 99 seconds to spare. At that moment, it didn’t matter to her how tired she was, and she took the last uphill with a sprint.

“Everything in me was desperate to stop,” she said. “I just put my heart into it.”

After she reached the finish line, Paris felt as if she was going to collapse. As reality sunk in that she had completed her biggest feat yet and she was able to finally catch her breath, she felt elated.

Now that Paris has crossed completing the Barkley Marathon off her bucket list, she said she’s going to participate in some local Scottish Hill races until her next big race in September — the Tor des Géants in the Alps.