On Friday the 22nd of March, after 60 hours of running, Jasmin Paris was able to finish the very dangerous and difficult Barkley Marathon. And in doing so she became the first female to finish it. Which then added her to the only 19 other finishers all male. Additionally of the 19 of the past finishers 4 of them have finished the race 2 or more times as the race has only been finished 26 times since the extended 100 mile version that was established in 1989.
The race started when a guy found out that the person who assassinated Martin Luther King Jr. had 55 hours to run, hide and cover distance but only ran 12 miles.Which made him think and begin the challenge of running 50 than 100 miles. The race was only intiltally 50 miles when it first started in 1986 but then was upped to 100 with a limit of 60 hours to complete said mileage in 1989. What makes the race so hard is the fact that the runners don’t really have road maps on where they're going, they also have to climb and gain elevation since it's a trail run.
This is why so few people have completed it and why the requirements aren't that bad compared to other marathons. But even then only 40 compete every year and out of those 40 maybe 2 if anyone finishes. But at least this year there was finally a woman who finished. It was Paris’ 3nd time trying but she was finally able to do it and she was 99 seconds away from almost not making it.
If this was enough to peak your interest make sure to check out the documentary about the marathon that goes into much more detail.