She did it! 99 seconds to spare (of 60 hours.) was following it last night and was pretty tense.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/mar/22/jasmin-paris-completes-barkley-marathons-tennessee

If you’ve not heard of the Barkley Marathons, go and educate yourself. Start with the documentary, that gives a pretty good account of how insane the whole thing is.

Yeah, I’ve been following this. A staggering achievement.

Wow. that’s incredible

I’d forgotten that over the years over 50% of all BM events that have taken place have had ZERO finishers.

We were watching her progress last night and it was a biting of fingernails finale. Awesome achievement.

Incredible achievement she is a supreme athlete. I remember when she won the Spine Race outright and smashed the course record

Just reading on Twitter/X about it. Amazing!

It’s awesome

My wife was glued to twitterx waiting for the finish

It is an insane race though. People look so broken,

Next year he will need to make it harder. I dread to think what it will be like

Amazing achievement and like many I was glued to Keith Dunn on Twitter.
The pics on of her finishing so the efforts involved.
But, with 5 finishers I fear for next years competitors.
Where Dreams Go To Die is a magnificent watch on the event.

I remember when she won the Spine Race outright and smashed the course record

Absolutely incredible athlete, glad this has been picked up by the mainstream news.

if you haven’t seen already the Spine documentary on Amazon is well worth a watch

Barkley marathons are just weird:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley_Marathons

Next year he will need to make it harder. I dread to think what it will be like

Why? was it easier than normal this year?

It wasn’t easier this year, but my understanding was it’s supposed to be pretty savage, in a friendly yet sadistic way. The spine is inherently brutal, but i think it is roughly the same course each year and its the conditions that change.  The guy that runs the Barkleys designs it to be super challenging, and part of its inherent charm is the fact it often has no finishers.

This is an amazing achievement for all involved. A good friend of mine had his number plate ready for the day he gets to try and survive the BM.

Can anyone explain this comment from the guardian:

“In a sporting gesture, Campbell also appeared to offer Paris the choice to take on the final loop in the clockwise direction – which is generally considered slightly less difficult – as the remaining competitors camped out before the closing stage.”

How does one competitor decide where another goes?

My partner watched the documentaries about it the other month and has been talking about it. A lot.
100 miles covering 2 x Everest elevation in under sixty hours. Finishers hallucinating (and brought back from the side of the road talking gibberish to a coke bottle by police). Yeah definitely too easy LOL.

@thegeneralist, the first 4 laps are run alternate directions, so all runners do lap 1 clockwise, lap 2 anticlockwise, etc.
Generally clockwise is considered easier.
For the last lap, to ensure people don’t run together runner, they alternate. The person leaving first picks their direction and so the person leaving second goes the opposite way, 3rd goes opposite to 2nd, etc.
Campbell was leaving before Paris meaning he’d have got the easier clockwise route, he hung back, made the offer to Paris’s to start before him so meaning she instead got the “easier” direction.

Can anyone explain this comment from the guardian:

“In a sporting gesture, Campbell also appeared to offer Paris the choice to take on the final loop in the clockwise direction – which is generally considered slightly less difficult – as the remaining competitors camped out before the closing stage.”

How does one competitor decide where another goes?

The first four laps are in set directions (I think clockwise, clockwise, anti, anti) so everyone does each direction in daylight and night. The final lap each person starting then goes alternate directions with the first person choosing, so if #1 goes cw, #2 good anti, #3 goes cw etc.

It’s decided by the order of people being ready to go out on the final lap

What Jared Campbell and Jasmin were ready to go out at about the same time, he waited for her so she could choose which way she wanted to go. CW is viewed as the slightly better option and he gave her that option.

Thanks Rose and Yorkshire.
Appreciate it

Not a runner fan, but saw it on tne news and that is an amazing achievement in a mental event!

Completely new to me, but this is utterly amazing. Well done her!!

There’s a nice write up on BBC News – https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-68643341

It’s very difficult to imagine how hard this is, but the Gary Robbins film above gives you an idea.   I guess they’re getting more finishers as more and more ‘elite’ runners are turning up.

Well done Jasmine for being first female finisher.  And well done Ihor for winning , and being the only first timer to win .. I don’t what % don’t even finish , but it’s well north of 90%

   I guess they’re getting more finishers as more and more ‘elite’ runners are turning up.

what defines elite ? Have many of the finishers been professionals. At least 3 of the finishers this year have careers outside of running – that I know of the others may or may not

I suspect it’s partly human evolution and partly a greater understanding of what’s required of you in the event . Has more in common wi a Polaris / imm mountain marathon than a signposted and supported ultra . It’s a mind **** if your not used to it

as for finishers I believe it’s 20 different names in the last 39years.many years has been 0 finishers

It’s also well understood that 20miles per lap is a woeful underestimate. No finisher has said how far due tonot being allowed to give anything away under the rules, but some of hinted that it’s way over 20 per lap.

Amazing achievement. BBC sport should just stop looking for sports personality of the year and just make it about her

Worth a read:

Barkley 2024: A Bit Traumatic and Wonderful

The thing about the BM is, you’re in open country the vast majority of the time, no paths, or trails, you’ve navigating incredibly steep, hostile terrian, and one mistake with the map will see you lost with little chance of getting back on route. there’s no drawn out route, you have to work it out from the intentional cryptic clues.

Famously 1 person took a wrong turn in the first mile of the first loop, and wasn’t seen again for a day or so.

You can’t compare it to the spine, or other UK ultras, it’s like a 60 hour fell race on acid…

The Belgian chap who finished last year was found hallucinating (the year before I think) whilst conversing with a wheelie bin and was escorted back to camp by the local constabulary..

Agreed, to become the first woman to finish is a remarkable achievement. Id be surprised if it’s equalled in short order.

This takes absolutely nothing away from the finishers this year but the weather was kind throughout which must have a huge bearing on things.

This is a good thread by one of the finishers about this years run and why it had as many finishers as it did:
https://x.com/rndmforestrunnr/status/1772641101297373213?s=46&t=PjpUMhUSiiVwfB9wcaehbg

I first heard about it while she was still running, it popped up on Flipboard, so I checked it out. I could barely comprehend what the competitors actually go through, it’s bizarre, insane and soul-destroyingly brutal. One thing I read, which hasn’t been mentioned is runners have to find a hidden book and remove specific pages to prove they’ve actually run each lap. Also, the state of her arms and legs from having to run through all sorts of thorn and other forms of evil shrubbery!
And we winge about stinging nettles! 🤔