Barkley Marathon - Nicky Spinks and Jasmin Paris

[AuntieStella]

They are among the 5 England competitors, the third woman is Katie Wright and the men are Damian Hall are Tom Hollins

24 competitors this year.

Keith is doing a brilliant commentary on Twitter (@ KeithDunn) Seven runners didn't make the cut off for finishing loop 1 (at least one because she got lost)

For those who don't know, this is a brutal and idiosyncratic trail ultramarathon - extremely rough terrain, no GPS watches allowed, course is not marked and runners get instructions on the day and then have to find their way.

Anyone else following it this year?

I'm finding it oddly fascinating! It's the sort of running I wish I could do, but know I never will

I love this. It's so brutal.

I’m glad it’s I’m not alone in the fascination!

I’ve just seen another fan twitter account that suggests more runners did complete loop 1 - not really knowing what’s going on is just part of it!

The “small European woman” in Keith’s commentary is Jasmin Paris and she was 8th to finish first lap

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barkley_Marathons

I'm not on Twitter, so will have to follow updates on here! Go Jasmin!!

"small european woman"

Jasmin isn't particularly small though?? She's fairly normal size.

Nicky Spinks is fairly petite - could it mean her?

Love this! I also texted 5live this morning to get them to cover it 🤣 I think we have three Brits with Damian too - is that right?

I love the Barkley Marathon even though I've never done more than a single half marathon in my life.

Nicky & Jasmin are inspirational.

I'm off to twitter.

Nicky Spinks got the “human sacrifice” Bob this year, and I haven’t seen anything about how she’s doing

Damian Hall (“guy with Mohawk”) was second to finish first loop, not seen anything about Tom or Katie

5 - 3 women (Nicky, Jasmin, Katie) and 2 men (Damian, Tom)

Second largest national contingent- biggest is the US of course!

Latest tracker I’ve come across

Just read on twitter that there might be a 6th Brit - Billy Reed

I was at school with Jasmin! I love following her running.

Hello my people!

Also mildly obsessed despite the longest distance I've ever run being 55k

I'm cheering for Jasmin but I would take any of the UK or OG John Kelly contingent.

I can't access Twitter at work (no phone signal so have to use work WiFi) so can't keep up to date from Keith 😭 relying on WhatsApp from friends.

@AuntieStella where's that tracker from? I might be able to access that.

@MoneyInTheBananaStand

I found it in the tweets of another ultra runner/nerd John Sugden (@ JohnSug on twitter) but similar might be posted elsewhere

Latest updates from Keith are that Jasmin began loop 3 at 21:27:39 - a lot made it to that point at about 20-21 hours

Several more tapped out. The first four, including Damian, completed second laps in times that give them a chance of finishing

Both Nicky and Jasmin are incredibly inspirational. I've raced against both, and I even helped Nicky find a control on a mountain marathon once! (She was unsure what a "shieling" was on the control description sheet.) Definitely rooting for them here!

I love the Barkley Marathons! I didn't realise it was on until Keith tweeted that the conch had been blown.

I am in utter awe of Jasmin Paris. And Nicky Spinks and the others too but I never get bored of telling people about Jasmin's amazing win at the Montane Spine Race.

Latest tracker - Brits are all still in the blue, but some of them only just!!

Another tweeter to follow is @ takadoesstuff or, for @MoneyInTheBananaStand his spreadsheet
docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vS7bFn8RH5Na4vVxNijCsFCiHeYqRksDi5D9ddC9Fz4yK7nOQhEg8HwG78lz-PFVB2EkFn4QlJKEXMV/pubhtml#

I’m watching ‘Last Woman Standing’ about Nicky Spinks’ first attempt - it’s on YouTube if anyones interested

Also here’s an image of an unofficial course description. I think I’d have trouble getting across the terrain at all - but still I can dream!!

Blimmin MN formatting!

It's @ taka (underscore) does (underscore) stuff
(without the spaces)

Ahhhh you legend @AuntieStella

I have deffo seen that spreadsheet before, thanks so much for the link 🙏

I follow takadoesstuff on twitter but I can't access it at work

My pleasure!

I have to go off and Do Stuff myself shortly, but here’s another link you might like

run247.com/running-news/trail/barkley-marathons-2023-loop-two-report

What’s the latest? I can’t see if Nicky Spinks is still going?!!

twitter.com/keithdunn/status/1636045633793454080

Nicky timed out on loop 2 :-( but jasmin still going!!

Come on Small European Woman 😂

Of the starters, 15 were still going at the 30 hour point, including two Brits (Guy With A Mohawk and Small European Woman)

Small European Womans’s loop 2 spilt was over 2 hours faster than when she competed before (when she finished the fun run but not the main marathon)

Attaching pix of the most recent Tracker I’ve seen, plus one of Small European Woman on the course