The Barkley Marathons 2024. Conch shell at the ready...

[Taylormiffed]

No idea when it will start. Follow @ keithdunn on twitter as he's usually the only journo who attends.

Let's hope for another safe race. Maybe a woman can finish for the first time and hopefully there'll be a handful of Brits to cheer on. Although tbh, I'll cheer on anyone crazy enough to attempt it.

I only heard about this today and I am so invested. What a Woman! What a race! Well done to all the finishers. I'm gobsmacked that the human body can do that!

Sophie Rayworth absolutely the right choice to interview Jasmin! She is a formidable runner herself - the won the Women’s 40-50yo category the year I rode in the Man vs Horse race (a 24 mile fell race where horse riders compete against runners - a rather more balanced race than you might imagine, as the terrain is severe and the race is run in June, horses do not perform in heat as well as humans do over distance.) I didn’t notice the moment I overtook her as my horse was having a moment of enthusiasm (I had no brakes 😳) but Sophie played that moment on The One Show so I was able to find out later on where we were when we passed her. I take my hat off to anyone who competes in that race on foot too - the final hill was described to me before I took part as ‘Sicky Hill’ because many runners are sick with the exertion by this point in the race. Whilst there is considerable skill in getting a horse fit enough to compete, and to pilot them successfully, the runners are all superhuman. (In my opinion. 😁)

Yay - Jasmin's being trailed at the start of the news as one of the major stories!
(she does sound a bit hoarse!)

Sophie Raworth in her public/running twitter feed has said that BBC did have a segment about Jasmin ready to go on the Friday night news, but it got crowded out by the Princess of Wales video release and the attack in Moscow

BTW I've seen Sophie run as well, but not in such an alarming sounding race! I happened to be touristing at a parkrun and she was there as well.

Any minute now! A bit of uplifting news when everything else is so grim right now

Being completely engrossed with #BM100 and #smalleuropeanwoman meant that I missed all the crappy MN Kate outpourings!

It was strange, the same day, hearing the Princess of Wales diagnosis and seeing Jasmin, the juxtaposition was quite poignant I thought

Really touching comments from John Kelly, bringing out just how hard fought it was. https://www.instagram.com/p/C45tCzHLxUR/

"Nevertheless, she persisted."

That's an absolutely brilliant post - welling up reading it, especially what he said about what it meant for his DDs, and that Gary Robbins was there.

John Kelly is such a lovely writer.

yes, a lovely post!

He really does have a great way with words. I’ve been reading his past race reports on his blog over the weekend, what a journey he’s had through the years.

I've just watched that - so glad you linked it.

I also like what you can see in the background - John jumping with excitement, Jared grinning like a Cheshire cat and Ihor who looks like he's both grinning and wiping away a tear

Poor old Greig Hamilton! In any other year he'd be getting a huge amount of attention. This year all four other finishers are getting more of the spotlight, for different reasons. I hope they're making a fuss of him back in NZ.

Race review from the man himself, Lazarus Lake:

brilliant might be a stretch.
i just related what happened.
(the runners wrote a brilliant story)

reflections on the 2024 barkley
.
it is never the same.
but it is always like this.
a lifetime compressed into 2 and a half days.
.
ihor the champion.
ihor driven by the will to never give up.
maybe i had the best view as he left on loop 5.
mincing across the rocky surface on destroyed feet.
i did not think it possible that they would carry him another lap over the brutal course.
.
but, ultimately, the barkley is a measure of sheer will.
and an iron will
the determination to stay the course to the end
carried him to victory.
.
john kelly and jared campbell.
the definition of barkley elite.
their performances were works of art.
their canvas the rugged crab orchard mountains
their palette powerful legs and minds.
master navigators
goatlike climbers
unyielding determination
unblinking focus on the task at hand.
their races were masterpieces.
.
greig hamilton
back for one more go at the most elusive prize in running.
maybe his last chance
as his great athletic career is closer to twilight than noon.
add in that his previous attempts all combined
had not seen the good weather of a single day this year.
he was not letting the opportunity get away.
even a major navigational error on the 5th loop did not rattle him.
.
and then there was the last finisher...
.
jasmin paris achieved the impossible.
and to achieve the impossible you have to do the impossible.
.
that stirring, emotion charged finish is only a fraction of the real story.
jasmin went out too fast.
if you want what you want
you have to do what it takes to get it.
and what it took to get what she wanted was to go out too fast.
and then to transcend human limitations to hang on.
.
as a race director you have a responsibility not to let an athlete put theirself in danger.
at the barkley that can be a tough call.
the standing joke is that every barker starting lap 5
would be pulled off the course in any other event.
jasmin was damaged when she left on the third lap.
between 3 and 4 it looked like an open question if she would be able to continue.
but between 4 and 5 she initially looked like a corpse.
she perked up briefly getting her stuff together to start the last loop.
then her stomach rebelled.
watching her try and get things under control to leave i had an internal debate going on.
carl was really in charge
but he was occupied.
and i was supposed to step in and help him when needed.
i couldnt abrogate my responsibilities on a technicality.
so i needed to give the situation serious consideration.
normally it might be advisable to tell her she should get her stomach settled before leaving.
but this wasnt normally.
the clock was running
and every second had counted for a long, long time.
jasmin was not just some ordinary athlete.
she had proven herself many times over.
the weather was not life threatening...
.
but most of all she was on the verge of a transformative performance.
she deserved to decide the outcome of her race "out there"
so i just watched her head out into the darkness.
.
the rest of the story the world knows....
.
or knows most of it.
if you have not been "out there"
your mind cannot create an image of just how hard it is
nor of the sheer horror that is that course.
whatever superlative you went to apply to her performance,
it was better than that.
.
but that applies to 4 other athletes as well.
.
other random thoughts.
we were all reminded of just how narrow the margins at barkley
when the rain began an hour after the race ended.
we broke camp and loaded everything up in progressively harder rain.
the drive home was made in a downpour.
had that arrived one day earlier
we would have been lucky to see one finisher.
.
another major factor in this year's success besides the weather.
was the strategy of the deep field of elite runners.
a pack of 18 took on the first loop together.
usually that results in testosterone poisoning
as they beat each other to death.
this time the best navigators led the group
and they collectively used brute force to defeat the new books.
it doesnt require precise navigation to locate a book
when 18 people fan out over the place it is at.
.
in military terms it was the equivalent of a full frontal assault.
casualties were expected.
but there were so many elite runners the course could not kill them all!
.
the struggle to keep away spectators is still an issue.
i spent a lot of friday telling people it was not a spectator event.
but there were still a lot of extra people by the time the finishers arrived.
it seems bizarre to see people wandering thru the campground like it was some sort of display set up for their amusement.
the park wont let us block the entrance to the campground
(which i would like to do)
because we have to leave access to the public trails.
i get that, but
with about double the campground's normal capacity already there
the only place for spectators is in the way.
i guess that is something we just have to keep working at.
.
all told it was a successful barkley.
i was proud of how carl performed
and i dont think we started the transition a moment too soon.
when i think about all that he did
and how exhausted i still was at the end of the weekend
i wonder how i ever managed to do it all...
.
that youth stuff cant be over-rated!

Great write up race review thanks for sharing

Thanks very much, really enjoyed reading that write up.

Jasmine Paris is going to be on 5Live around 8.30

Interview starts at around 8.46 if you want to listen back on BBCSounds.

I hope she’s only doing the amount of media she feels comfortable with - I guess it’s a benefit of not having a sponsor, no-ones pressuring you to do it.

Thanks for the heads up on Five live - I really want to hear from her but also want her to be able to sleep for the next month so it's good to spread the news. Interesting to read the Laz comments too.

I wonder what this inspiration has done for event bookings - I've signed up for 5 events since Friday (including two I was tempted by but chickening out of) and I am sure I am not alone!

I heard she's also due back at work this week!

She was on Virgin radio at around 8.20 this morning.

Travel and training for this sort of sport does not come cheap! Pennies have to be earned somehow, and though so many people have been thrilled and entertained by this year’s Barkley Marathons episode, it is in general hard to persuade people to just give you money for going and taking part in sport (unless it’s top level football, motor racing or golf, in which case they just throw it at you!) So I would imagine that she would be back to work. As an amateur sport competitor, I go to work, travel, train, compete, and go back to work again. Most amateur sportsmen and women do. Even being the first woman to complete the Barkley Marathons would not bring in enough sponsorship to give up the day job. I know several sportsmen and women who are very successful in various niche sports, and they have not given up the day job.

@GCircus Oh totally get that, I think I had just hoped she would have a bit longer to recover! By the sound of it she has two more big races coming up in the next 6 months though so got to balance that annual leave & earnings for sure.

That's just wonderful really wonderful, thank you for sharing.

Don't know about everyone else but I'm still watching all the vids and gazing at all the photos, just incredible. There's a great written interview with Jasmin on I run far .