“You have to really, really want it to do well.” Three people finished it this year and only one slept, for about 20 minutes. There’s lots of things about it that make it tough – if you win it, you’re running for about 60 hours with no sleep. But it’s incredibly hard because you need to concentrate fully the entire time. “I feel very fortunate to have been able to race it because not many people get the chance each year. It’s difficult to describe it,” she says. While a race with such a reputation would make most people baulk, it’s exactly the kind of challenge Paris embraces and while she ended-up withdrawing after four laps, which took two whole days, she relished the experience. Paris’ lead-up to these World Championships says everything about the size of the challenge she likes to embrace.Įarlier this year, Paris raced the Barkley Marathon, a trail ultra-race in rural Tennessee in America that’s widely regarded as the toughest race on the planet, which is backed-up by the incredible statistic that in the event’s 37-year history, it’s been completed by only 18 people in total. Paris is one of eight Scots selected in the 33-strong GB team and will race the long trail race which is, by her standards, a modest 85km. Such is Paris’ prowess over unthinkably long distances – she’s had some of her best results in races lasting over 24 hours and stretching hundreds of miles – this week’s World Mountain and Trail Champs, which begin today in Austria, will feel like something of a sprint to her. She has countless records to her name, has been lauded by the likes of Chelsea Clinton and Barbara Streisand and has done more than most to shine a spotlight on the somewhat niche world of ultra-running. The 39-year-old Scot is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest ultra-runners of her generation, and perhaps ever.
When it comes to Jasmin Paris, however, everything is extraordinary.
0 kommentar(er)
