The 2024 Barkley Marathons drew to a close last night and for the first time ever, a female runner completed all five laps of the grueling race. British ultra runner Jasmin Paris was the last of the five remaining runners to cross the finish line, managing the brutal feat with just seconds to spare. In doing so, she makes history as the first woman to do so.
Yesterday, we reported that for the first time, seven runners had entered into the final lap of the event that is famously known as "the race that eats its young." However, Sebastian Raichon from France and Britain's Damian Hall both failed to complete the final lap, leaving Paris among a relatively healthy lineup of finishers that includes John Kelly, who enjoyed his third finish, Greig Hamilton, Jared Campbell and Ihor Verys, who came in first at 58:44:59. The group was photographed in a social media post by Keith Dunn, which you can see below, looking a little muddied and bloodied, but otherwise very pleased with themselves.
