Jasmin Karina Paris MBE (born November 1983)[1] is a British runner who has been a national fell running champion and who has set records for the Bob Graham Round and the Ramsay Round. In 2024, she became the first woman to successfully complete the Barkley Marathons.[2][3]

Jasmin Paris
MBE
Paris during the 2018 Borrowdale Fell Race
Personal information
Full nameJasmin Karina Paris
BornNovember 1983 (age 41)
Manchester
Parent
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportSkyrunning
Medal record
Skyrunning
World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Lleida Ultra SkyMarathon

She won the 2016 Skyrunner World Series Sky Extreme category,[4] and a bronze medal at the 2016 Skyrunning World Championships in the Sky Ultra category.[5] She received significant media attention for beating the all-time men's course record by 12 hours at the 2019 Spine Race.[6]

She is a senior lecturer in the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh.

Early life and education

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Paris was born in Manchester and grew up in the Peak District.[7] She attended Manchester High School for Girls.[8] She has an undergraduate degree from the University of Liverpool (2008) and a Ph.D. from the University of Edinburgh (2020).[9] Her doctoral thesis was "Novel regulators of cancer stem cell biology in acute myeloid leukaemia."[10]

Running career

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While at the University of Liverpool, Paris was a member of the Open Air Club which encouraged outdoor pursuits.[11] However, she did not start running until she left university in 2008 and was working in Glossop near her home town of Hadfield in Derbyshire, although she had done some backpacking and walked a lot in the fells. After a twelve-month sabbatical in Minnesota, she returned to the UK, moved to Edinburgh in 2010 and began to take running more seriously.[12][13]

She has performed particularly well in the longer fell races. Her wins include the Three Peaks Race,[14] Wasdale, Borrowdale, the Langdale Horseshoe, the Ennerdale Horseshoe[15] and the Isle of Jura,[16] and she has won the Lakeland Classics Trophy series.[17]

Paris won the Scottish Hill Running Championships in 2014 and 2015[18] and in 2015 and 2018 she won the British Fell Running Championships.[19]

In 2015, Paris began to be more prominent in ultra distance running. In April that year, she set a new women's record of 11:09 in the Fellsman, finishing fourth overall,[20][21] and in June, she was the first female finisher and second overall in the five-day Dragon's Back Race in Wales.[22][23]

On 23 April 2016, Paris completed the Bob Graham Round in a time of 15:24, taking more than two-and-a-half hours off the women's record previously held by Nicky Spinks.[24][25] The record stood until July 2020 when Beth Pascall ran the Bob Graham Round in 14:34.[26]

Paris ran the Ramsay Round on 18 June 2016 in a time of 16:13. This was not only a new women's record, but an overall fastest known time for the route.[27] It remained the overall record until 2019, when Es Tresidder ran the Round a minute quicker.[28]

In July 2016, Paris took third place in the Buff Epic Trail 105K which was the 2016 Skyrunning World Championships race for the ultra category.[29] In August, she finished sixth at the UTMB, her first 100-mile race.[30]

In September, Paris was crowned champion in the Extreme series of the 2016 Skyrunner World Series, having won both the Tromsø SkyRace and the Glen Coe Skyline.[31] In October, she set a new women's record for the Paddy Buckley Round with a time of 18:33.[32]

Paris set a new race record in the 2019 Spine Race along the Pennine Way, finishing the 268 miles (431.3 km) on 16 January in 83 hours 12 minutes and 23 seconds. Becoming the first woman to win the event overall, she surpassed the previous record of 95 hours 17 minutes set by Eoin Keith in 2016 and the previous female record of 109 hours 54 minutes achieved by Carol Morgan in 2017.[33] During breaks in the race she expressed milk for her baby.[34][35]

Paris completed a circuit of twenty-nine Munros in the Cairngorms in July 2021, setting a women's record for climbing the most Munros and returning to the starting point within twenty-four hours.[36] Later the same year, she won the Ultra Tour Monte Rosa in Switzerland.[37]

Paris was sponsored by Inov-8 until 2022, when she opted to run for The Green Runners, an environmental group of which she is a co-founder.[38]

In March 2022, Paris competed in the Barkley Marathons in Frozen Head State Park, Tennessee. She completed a "Fun Run" of three loops, the first time for nine years that a woman had done so.[39] In March 2023, she was only the second woman ever to attempt a fourth loop; she completed loop four, however not within the time limit.[40]

In March 2024, Paris set another record in the Barkley Marathons by becoming the first woman to complete the event. Paris finished the event in 59:58:21, just 99 seconds inside the cut-off time.[41][2][3]

Awards

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Paris was appointed MBE in the 2024 Birthday Honours. She was described as "Ultrarunner", and the award was For services to Fell and Long- Distance Running."[42][43][44]

Personal life

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She is the daughter of mathematicians Jeff Paris and Alena Vencovská.[45][46][47]

In 2016, Paris married Konrad Rawlik, who is also a runner with a win in the Fellsman.[48][49] They have two children.[50]

She is a small-animal vet and a senior lecturer in the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies at the University of Edinburgh.[9]

In 2016, she was a guest speaker at the Kendal Mountain Festival.[51]

References

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  1. ^ "Companies House: Carnethy Hill Running Club".
  2. ^ a b "NEWSFLASH: Jasmin Paris completes the 2024 Barkley Marathons". www.ukhillwalking.com. 22 March 2024. Retrieved 22 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b McVeigh, Niall (22 March 2024). "British ultrarunner Jasmin Paris is first woman to finish Barkley Marathons". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Jasmin Paris and Jonathan Albon are EXTREME Champions". skylinescotland.com. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  5. ^ "Skyrunning World Championships 2016 ULTRA – Images and Summary". iancorless.org. 24 July 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
  6. ^ Ingle, Sean (17 January 2019). "Jasmin Paris becomes first woman to win 268-mile Montane Spine Race". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
  7. ^ Williams, Sarah (8 October 2019). "Jasmin Paris - British ultra runner who won the 268-mile Spine Race an". toughgirlchallenges.
  8. ^ "An Ultra Fascinating Founders' Lecture | News | Manchester High School for Girls". www.manchesterhigh.co.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2024.
  9. ^ a b "Jasmin Paris". University of Edinburgh Research Explorer. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  10. ^ "Catalogue record for thesis: Novel regulators ..." DiscoverEd. University of Edinburgh. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  11. ^ "Stories - Alumni". University of Liverpool.
  12. ^ Ben Abdelnoor, "Jasmin Paris", The Fellrunner, Spring 2013, 68-69.
  13. ^ Finn, Adharanand (20 May 2016). "Jasmin Paris: 'I rarely run on roads, only to get to the hills'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  14. ^ Three Peaks Race: Winners 1954-2015Archived 2016-10-22 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Race Results – Lakeland Classics Trophy". Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  16. ^ "2015 Jura Race Report" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  17. ^ Johnson, Bill (Spring 2013). "Lakeland Classics Trophy 2012". The Fellrunner: 64–65.
  18. ^ "Hall of Fame". Carnethy Hill Running Club.
  19. ^ "British Champions". Fellrunner.
  20. ^ "Adam Perry posts third Fellsman win as Jasmin Paris sets new women's record". www.grough.co.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  21. ^ "2015". The Fellsman. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  22. ^ "Jim Mann and Jasmin Paris triumph in five-day Dragon's Back Race". www.grough.co.uk. 26 June 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  23. ^ "The World's Toughest Mountain Race - Ras Cefn y Ddraig". Dragon's Back Race®. 26 February 2024.
  24. ^ Paris, Jasmin (Summer 2016). "Raising the Bar". The Fellrunner: 48–51.
  25. ^ talkultra (29 April 2016). "Episode 110 – MDS Special and Jasmin Paris". IAN CORLESS. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  26. ^ "Damian Hall and Beth Pascall look back on trail records — Trail Running". 27 July 2020. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020.
  27. ^ UKClimbing.com: Jasmin Paris Breaks Ramsay Round Record; Inov-8: Jasmin Paris: A 16:13 Ramsay Round Record.
  28. ^ "INTERVIEW: Es Tresidder on his Ramsay Round Record". www.ukclimbing.com. 8 July 2019.
  29. ^ International Skyrunning Federation: Hernando and Chaverot Ultra Champions. Spain, Czech Republic and Japan Take the Medals.
  30. ^ Hicks, Meghan (28 August 2016). "Jasmin Paris Post-2016 UTMB Interview".
  31. ^ "Albon and Paris are Extreme champions". Skyrunner World Series. 19 September 2016.
  32. ^ "Jasmin Paris Rewrites The Mountain Running Record Books |". 16 April 2022. Archived from the original on 16 April 2022.
  33. ^ Ingle, Sean (17 January 2019). "Jasmin Paris becomes first woman to win 268-mile Montane Spine Race". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  34. ^ Ingle, Sean (17 June 2021). "Sabrina Verjee sets record for running 214 Wainwright peaks in less than six days". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  35. ^ "Nursing mother smashes 268-mile Montane Spine Race record". BBC News. 17 January 2019.
  36. ^ Wilson, Mark (28 July 2021). "Jasmin Paris and Kim Collison Set 24-Hour Munros Records in July". www.irunfar.com.
  37. ^ Mock, Justin (7 September 2021). "This Week In Running: September 7, 2021". Irunfar.
  38. ^ "How the Green Runners are making the planet fitter". Runner's World. 29 July 2022.
  39. ^ "Jasmin Paris Completes Barkley Marathons 'Fun Run'". inov-8.com.
  40. ^ Dickinson, Marley (16 March 2023). "Jasmin Paris bows out of Barkley Marathons after four loops". Running Magazine.
  41. ^ "The 2024 Barkley Marathons Results: Meet The Athletes Who Just Joined The Most Exclusive Club In The World". 26 March 2024. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  42. ^ "Jasmin Paris Receives Member Of The Order Of The British Empire In King's Birthday Honours List". 15 June 2024. Retrieved 30 June 2024.
  43. ^ "No. 64423". The London Gazette (Supplement). 15 June 2024. p. B22.
  44. ^ "Ultra-runner Jasmin Paris adds royal honour to long list of achievements". The Independent. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  45. ^ Paris, Jasmin (1 May 2016). "Talking of fells, ...: Bob Graham". Talking of fells, ... Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  46. ^ "Paris, Prof. Jeffrey Bruce, (born 15 Nov. 1944), Professor of Mathematics, Manchester University, 1984–2017, now Emeritus". WHO'S WHO & WHO WAS WHO. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  47. ^ "Dr Alena Vencovská- School of Mathematics". personalpages.manchester.ac.uk. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  48. ^ "Tromsø SkyRace® 2016 Preview – Skyrunner® Extreme Series". IAN CORLESS. 4 August 2016. Retrieved 23 March 2024.
  49. ^ "2016".
  50. ^ "Meet Jasmin Paris - The record-breaking ultra runner, mum and vet". inov-8.com.
  51. ^ "Jasmin Paris". Kendal Mountain Festival. 2016. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
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