It will be one of the images of the year. The first woman to complete the Barkley Marathons Race within the allotted time, slumped besides the gate she touched with just one minute 39 seconds to spare of the 60-hour cut off.
She is not surrounded by paramedics or covered in a silver sheet, we see a woman behind her, looking away, a man is clapping – though we cannot see his head for the bar of the gate. The picture tells us that for two and a half days Jasmin Paris fought to make the cut and made it – with less than a hundred seconds to spare.
I can scarcely believe the detail.
The 40-year-old vet had to navigate through extreme and often pathless terrain, continuing to run through the night.
Pictures show her legs scratched from pushing through sharp bushes and scrub in dense forest on steep slopes.
The photograph was taken by David Miller who describes the moments leading up to it.
“There was a lot of anticipation at the finish line and three minutes before the 60 hour cut off we heard shouting and a roar and it was people cheering Jasmin on.
“She was sprinting and giving it her all as there was no room for error because otherwise she would not have made the cut off.
“She touched the gate and collapsed in exhaustion. It was the best thing I have ever seen, it was unbelievable”.
You can read the rest in an excellent article by Angie Brown on the BBC website
The linked in post is a model of the responsible use of social media
I reckon we each react to what we see in different ways. For me, the telling of this story through the words of a fellow Scot and the pictures of someone who says he was moved to tears by what he saw was affecting.
I have no idea what motivated Jasmin Paris to this but anyone who has put on a pair of running shoes and set off to beat a personal goal , knows of the elation in its pursuit.
As I write, the sun is dawning on a perfect March morning in Berkshire, the cold Thames running smoothly past Windsor castle through Romney Weir.
The hills of Tennessee , the pain of that lady at the gate , the elation of those few waiting hope upon hope that Jasmin Paris would appear out of the forest before the end of the race – all are alive inside me, as I gaze from my window.
To bring this story to me on a Sunday morning is great journalism, but to have a story to bring involves perseverance and endeavour beyond my ken. Thanks Angie and Ken but most of all thanks to Jasmin Paris.
