13/04/2024
This! The more I read of her story and background, the training, her life with her family and job…. She’s incredible 👏🏼
When Jasmin Paris told her husband that she was going out at 12am to run laps up a steep mountain, in freezing temps, with sleet hammering down, he said, “You’re not really going out there are you?” Eight hours later, after a night spent running and sliding down a mountain that vacillated between snow and freezing rain, Jasmin completed her 22 miles and many thousands of feet of elevation gain. By 8am she was at the pool with her kids ready to start her day. It was “bonkers” runs like this that Jasmin, who is a 40-year-old mom of two young children, said helped her prepare for and recently become the first woman to complete the The Barkley Marathons in the races 38-year-history.
Though she could have many sponsors, Jasmin has chosen not to because she does not feel getting “loads of gear,” when the well-used clothes and shoes she is now famous for wearing do the job. She works full-time as a small-animal vet and researcher, manages the juggle of having kids with her husband Konrad, and finds time to train in the midst of a very full life. Jasmin attributes her love for the outdoors and competitive edge to her parents, who raised her and her three brothers hiking in the mountains, swimming in open water, and taught her that she could accomplish whatever she wanted to do. It’s that belief that inspired her to take on the insane challenge of Barkley and that she hopes will inspire other young girls, who drop out of sport at a much higher number than boys.
In preparation for Barkley this year, Jasmin who has long suffered with chronic fatigue as a possible result of Covid, being a mom of toddlers, and a demanding job allowed her body to rest. She believes the extra sleep helped her reset and for the first time since 2021 she could actually feel the fatigue go away. Jasmin also did a lot more strength training. This helped her knee, which has no ACL, the result of a riding accident in her teens, hold up for the five grueling loops of Barkley. When Jasmin ramped training up in the early part of the year, she got her long runs and hill repeats in before work and a 45-minute session on the StairMaster right before she picked her kids up from daycare.
Jasmin’s family and friends were a big part of her training too. When she went home for Christmas, her mom created a 26-mile Barkley course complete with finding books along the route. Jasmin ran five loops. Her husband and brother joined her for two and her friends organized runs in the mountains to test her navigation. In the final miles of Barkley, it was the names of her family that she called out with each agonizing step towards the finish. Alone on the trail with only seconds to spare before the 60-hour cut off she could feel all of them with her.
Nearly three weeks have passed since Jasmin’s legendary performance and I’m still sharing her story because there’s much to learn. Next week, I will have the opportunity to interview Jasmin. If you have questions for her please include them in the comments.
Here’s to believing, here’s to encouraging young girls and women to stay in sport, and get through life and here’s to knowing that we are capable of more than we can imagine. Oh yes, she can!
Thank you for the likes, shares and comments. Women of the Mountain appreciates each one. Photo credit the always fabulous https://www.instagram.com/howiesternphoto/. This is Jasmin about to finish Barkley with her husband Konrad cheering her on.
