Ich habe schon häufiger über den legendären Barkley 100 Ultra-Marathon berichtet. Seit 1986 35-mal ausgetragen, haben ihn nur 20 unterschiedliche Athleten erfolgreich beendet. Und keine einzige Frau. Bis zu diesem Jahr. Jasmin Paris, eine 40-jährige Schottin, scheiterte 2022 und 2023. Vor einigen Tagen gelang ihr der ganz grosse Wurf, der Eintrag in die Geschichtsbücher: das Rennen hat eine Zeitlimite von 60 Stunden, und sie erreichte das Ziel nach 59h 58m 21s (99 Sekunden vor dem Ende).
Die 5 Finisher (neuer Rekord!) von links nach rechts: Greig Hamilton, Jared Campell, Ihor Verys (Sieger), Jasmin Paris, John Kelly.
Ikonisches Bild: Jasmin Paris nach dem Zieleinlauf, vor Erschöpfung zusammengebrochen.
Einige Minuten danach bester Laune.
Der Zieleinlauf
Das letzte Wort soll John Kelly gehören, der als 2. Läufer die gelbe Pforte nach 5 Loops berührte:
A few days ago a bunch of my friends came & ran around the woods of Tennessee tearing pages out of books for the Barkley Marathons. The 5 of us here gathered 75 each. Jasmin Paris had the kind of performance that makes this arbitrary adventure have meaning so far beyond this yellow gate. I don’t think anything at Barkley will ever top it.
I wrote back in 2018 (link in bio) that a woman could finish Barkley. But being possible & actually happening are two entirely different things, and I didn’t know if I would ever see it. Jasmin had all the right ingredients – incredible strength & speed, an unstoppable quiet resolve, master navigation, & amazing support from her husband Konrad. She failed in 2022 & 2023, but nevertheless, she persisted & gained valuable experience.
When the giant group of 16 in the lead half way around loop 1 started to spread out, she was not amongst the 6 of us back to camp first. Nevertheless, she persisted & caught us going up Rat Jaw in the afternoon sun.
She seemed to start to struggle getting enough food down. Nevertheless, she persisted & kept pace with me, @ihorverys, & @ultra_damo until nearly the end of loop 3. She hit another low point & slipped back – something that at that point would have made it extremely easy to give up hope of a finish. Nevertheless, she persisted & joined @derajslc & Greig for the daunting & critical loop 4.
When we crossed paths on loop 5 & I did the math in my head, the odds for her were very bad. After I finished & heard how far behind she was at the fire tower, the question was how long over the cutoff she would unfortunately be. Nevertheless, she persisted.
As the last few minutes of hope disappeared, my oldest son was the 1st to spot her moving through the woods towards camp. Someone dismissed it as just a kid saying things. When she emerged, Jared & I started frantically looking between each other, our watches, & her willing her broken body up the road. @garyrobbins, who has the most heart breaking near finish at Barkley & returned this year to crew me, stood behind us.
My daughters were there watching. Thank you Jasmin, for showing them what I never fully could.