The character arc of Jasmin Paris
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born in November 1983 in Manchester and raised in the Peak District. Between then and now sit an undergraduate degree in 2008, running taken up only after leaving university, a move to Edinburgh in 2010, national fell running titles in 2014, 2015 and 2018, records for two of the great British rounds in 2016, the 268 mile Spine Race won outright in January 2019 by twelve hours, a doctorate in 2020, two unsuccessful attempts at the Barkley Marathons, and a finish in March 2024 with ninety nine seconds to spare. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Jasmin Paris?
Two attempts failed, and ninety nine seconds to spare.
She is the daughter of two mathematicians, grew up in the Peak District and walked a great deal in the fells, but she did not actually start running until she left the University of Liverpool in 2008. She moved to Edinburgh in 2010 and began to take it seriously. She is a small-animal vet and a senior lecturer at a veterinary school, took a doctorate in 2020 on cancer stem cell biology, and has two children. The running has always been done around all of that.
She turned out to be extraordinary at the long stuff. National fell running titles in Scotland and Britain, wins at most of the classic long British races, and in 2016 two of the biggest records in the sport: the Bob Graham Round in fifteen hours twenty four, taking more than two and a half hours off the women's record, and the Ramsay Round in sixteen thirteen, which was not just a women's record but the fastest anybody had gone. In January 2019 she won the Spine Race, two hundred and sixty eight miles along the Pennine Way in winter, outright and by a distance: eighty three hours and twelve minutes, twelve hours faster than the previous course record set by a man. She expressed milk for her baby at the breaks.
Then the Barkley Marathons, which is a race in Tennessee that most years nobody finishes at all. In March 2022 she completed three loops, a fun run, the first time in nine years a woman had done it. In March 2023 she became the second woman ever to start a fourth loop, and finished it outside the time limit. In March 2024 she went back again and became the first woman ever to complete the race, in fifty nine hours fifty eight minutes and twenty one seconds, ninety nine seconds inside the cut-off. She was appointed MBE later that year.
The moments
Jasmin Paris's timeline.
The 1980s
Born in Manchester
Everyday. Two mathematicians for parents, and the Peak District out of the window.
The 2000s
She starts running at last
Milestone, and it changed everything. Twenty five years old, and she had never run.
The 2010s
Edinburgh, and seriously
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A new city, and the hobby turned into the thing.
Titles, and the long races
Milestone, and it changed her direction. She beat most of the men in most of the long ones.
Two great rounds
Milestone, and it changed everything. Not just the fastest woman on the Ramsay Round. The fastest anybody.
The Spine Race, outright
Milestone, and it changed everything. Two hundred and sixty eight winter miles, won outright, with a breast pump at the checkpoints.
The 2020s
A doctorate
Milestone. A doctorate on leukaemia biology, finished in the same years as the records.
Three loops at the Barkley
Setback, and it changed her direction. Three loops out of five. The first woman to manage even that in nine years.
Loop four, too slow
Setback, and it changed everything. She finished the loop. The clock had already beaten her.
Go back a third time
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: enter again, taken, or stop at the fun run. She finished in fifty nine hours fifty eight minutes and twenty one seconds, ninety nine seconds inside the cut-off.
The first woman to finish
Milestone, and it changed everything. Ninety nine seconds, after three years of trying.
Edinburgh keeps her teaching and the fells keep her honest, and the children come first. What it has set moving is measured in ninety nine seconds: a race that had beaten every woman who had ever entered it stopped being a question, and a working vet with two young children was the one who answered it.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
Hers failed twice at the same race and went back a third time for ninety nine seconds. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Jasmin Paris: frequently asked questions
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More character arcs
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Sources
- Jasmin Paris, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- Barkley Marathons results, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
- Spine Race records, January 2019, and the 2024 Birthday Honours list.