Jasmin Paris
Jasmin Paris is a mother, long distance fell runner, small animal vet and research scientist, who was launched into the media spotlight in January 2019 when she won the 268-mile Montane Spine race outright, breaking the overall record by 12 hours, and beating her nearest rival by 15 hours. In March 2024, she became the first woman to finish the infamous Barkley Marathons in Tennessee, something many had previously considered impossible for a woman.
Jasmin was born in Manchester in 1983, and brought up between the Peak District, UK, and Šumava, Czech Republic. She studied veterinary science at Liverpool University (2002-2008), including an intercalated year of Veterinary Pathology at the Royal Veterinary College, London. From 2009-2010 Jasmin completed a rotating internship at the University of Minnesota, USA, before returning to Edinburgh University to start a residency in Small Animal Medicine, ultimately gaining European Diplomate status in 2014. Between 2015 and 2019, Jasmin completed a PhD studying the role of the RNA-methylation reader protein YTHDF2 in acute myeloid leukaemia. She is currently working as a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, where she does a mixture of clinical work, and research focused on human chronic biliary disease.
Although very active outdoors throughout childhood, it was not until 2008, whilst working for a year as a small animal vet in Glossop that she started fell running. In 2015, Jasmin finished first lady and second overall at the infamous Dragon’s Back race, and the same year she won the British Fellrunning Championship for the first time. In 2016, she gained international recognition by winning the Skyrunning Extreme Series, and the same year she broke records for the three classic UK 24-hour hill challenges (the Bob Graham, Charlie Ramsay and Paddy Buckley rounds). In 2017, Jasmin gave birth to her daughter Rowan. She returned to racing by winning the British Fellrunning Championship in 2018, and thereafter the Spine in 2019. Jasmin’s son Bryn was born in 2020, and she returned to competitive racing with a win at the Ultra Tour of Monte Rosa in 2021.
The Barkley Marathons race is widely regarded as the world's toughest ultramarathon and has been completed by only 20 people in the last 35 years. Consisting of five 20-mile loops through the wilderness of Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee, with more than 20 000m ascent, the race has a 60-hour time limit. In March 2022, Jasmin Paris became the first female in 9 years to complete a Barkley Marathon 'Fun Run' (3 loops in 40 hours), and in 2023 she reached the furthest point (on loop 4) of any woman in the history of the race. In 2024, on her third attempt, Jasmin became the first woman to finish the race, completing the 5 loops with only 99 seconds to spare, in a dramatic finish which delighted onlookers around the world.
Jasmin was awarded an MBE for her services to Fell and Long Distance Running in 2024. Her second son, Conall, was born in 2025.