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Jasmin Paris becomes the first woman in history to finish the Barkeley Marathons

Cyberpunkd

Member
This news deserves its own thread. For those (probably all here) that don’t know watch this:



The full documentary is available on streaming, one of the earliest great documentaries that Netflix had.

For those that TL;DR:

1. In 30 years 20 people finished the race
2. 5 loops of approx. 20 miles each, total altitude change is 2x Mount Everest
3. No race website, registration is secret, each year 40 runners participate
4. No GPS watches allowed
5. One runner the most unlikely to even make a single loop is designated as “sacrificial lamb” with Bib no. 1

You think that’s all?

Kevin Hart No GIF by Kevin Hart's Laugh Out Loud


6. Each loop has a cutoff time of 12 hours,
7. Consecutive loops are run in clockwise or counterclockwise direction depending on the runner before you

This is not Dark Souls of ultrarunning, this is something else.

This year Jasmin Paris became the first woman in history to finish all 5 loops. In incredible spirit of camaraderie another finisher - Jared Campbell, who finished the race for a record 4th time - waited for her to let her choose which direction she wanted to run her final loop, as the same direction as the fourth one is considered beneficial.

She made it with 62 SECONDS to spare (out of 60 hours total).

 

near

Gold Member
What are the long term physical ramifications of doing a challenge like this? This just sounds mental. Congrats to her for making it through.
 
I love these weird ass backwater events. Like the backyard marathon where you have to run 4,7 miles in an hour. And then run it again and again without a break until one person is left, which can be more then 100 hours later.
 

Ammogeddon

Member
I’m into ultra distance trail running and have been a fan of hers for some time.

Jasmine is a true legend.

She set the overall course record for the infamous Spine race a few years back. She’d not long given birth and was expressing her breast milk for her baby at aid stations along the way.

Oh and she does all this alongside her full time job of being a vet.
 

Cyberpunkd

Member
What are the long term physical ramifications of doing a challenge like this?
Long term probably little, given that all the runners are very experienced in trail and ultrarunning. It’s just that this event pushes you to the brink, which is why so many DNF. The place is also a hellhole - temperature changes, weather changes, rough terrain, etc.
Oh, that “no GPS part”? You need to find a book at each stop and tear a page out to prove you passed the checkpoint. Each loop you are tasked with tearing out a different page number.
 

efyu_lemonardo

May I have a cookie?
Jasmin sounds like a beast! Congratulations to her!

I watched Nyad last weekend (highly recommended btw!), and the events mentioned in this thread are giving me the same vibes...

I can understand why some people do these, but they are a very specific kind of people that get a kick out of pushing their bodies and minds to their absolute physical limits...
 
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Trilobit

Member
How is this even possible? I am very disappointed in my own flesh. I would like to experience having a body with that amount of energy just for one day.
 

Tieno

Member
Absolutely epic. The finish must have been amazing.
I got emotional just watching this video, the crowd cheering her to the finish. I've done some ultra races myself and the look on her is one of complete exhaustion, she went all in. Amazing. Respect.
 
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Dacvak

No one shall be brought before our LORD David Bowie without the true and secret knowledge of the Photoshop. For in that time, so shall He appear.
Yeah okay but I walked all the way upstairs to the fridge, back downstairs, and then BACK upstairs to retrieve my phone before heading down again. I probably could have even done a fifth loop.
 

Ownage

Member
Must be rough finishing the hardest ultra on the planet for the fourth time, not getting any news coverage all these years but this year as the guy who let the woman choose directions of the last loop XD
Am sure certain military interests watch this annual party scene to see who they can pick up.
 
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