Who is Jasmin Paris? Everything about the 40-year-old who became the first woman to finish the grueling Barkley Marathons

Jasmin Paris is an ultra-distance runner from Great Britain who has made a name for herself in ultramarathon running, fell running, and sky running.

She recently captured the spotlight after becoming the first woman to successfully finish the Barkley Marathons in 2024. She crossed the finish line of one of the most grueling ultra-marathons in 59:58:21.

At the Barkley Marathons, only 17 runners had completed the race until the latest edition, making it one of the toughest marathons to exist. However, in the 2024 edition, three new runners successfully joined the list of finishers.

Apart from Jasmin Paris, Ihor Verys (58:44:59) and Greig Hamilton (59:38:42) finished the race with first and fourth-fastest timings respectively this year. John Kelly and Jared Campbell, who clocked 59:15:38 and 59:30:32 in this edition, have previously completed the race. This was their third and fourth time finishing the ultramarathon respectively.

With this, let’s know more about 40-year-old Paris who became the first-ever woman to achieve this incredible feat at the Barkley Marathons 2024.

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Jasmin Paris' hometown and family

Jasmin Paris was born in November 1983 in Manchester to mathematicians Jeff Paris and Alena Vencovská. Besides her career in running, she is working as a small-animal vet at the University of Edinburgh and studied acute myeloid leukemia.

In 2016, she married Konrad Rawlik, who is also a runner. The couple have two children.

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When did Jasmin Paris take up running?

Paris began running seriously in 2008 after leaving the University of Liverpool. In Glossop where she was working as a newly qualified vet, one of her colleagues suggested that she participate in a local fell race and she soon fell in love with the sport.

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Some other prominent achievements of Jasmin Paris

One of her prominent victories was setting a women’s record in the Bob Graham Round, clocking a time of 15:24, on April 23, 2016. She shaved over two-and-a-half hours off the women's record previously held by Nicky Spinks. The record has since been broken.

Paris took part in the Ramsay Round, a long-distance hill running challenge, on June 18, 2016, where she recorded a time of 16:13. This achievement not only set a new women's record but also established the overall fastest known time for the route. The record remained until 2019.

Later in July 2016, she achieved third place in the women’s Ultra SkyMarathon (105 km) at the Skyrunning World Championships 2016.

In March 2023, she became only the second woman ever to try a fourth loop at the Barkley Marathons. Despite completing loop four, she couldn’t advance as it exceeded the time limit.

She also clinched victories in longer fell races like Three Peaks Race, Wasdale, Borrowdale, the Langdale Horseshoe, the Ennerdale Horseshoe, and the Isle of Jura. She won the Scottish Hill Running Championships in 2014 and 2015, and the British Fell Running Championships in 2015 and 2018.