It's a Brutal Race, and She Won It in Eye-Popping Way

Jasmin Paris broke the previous record by 12 hours, while pumping breast milk
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 20, 2019 7:16 AM CST
Winner of 268-Mile Race Did It in Incredible Way
A stock photo of a female runner.   (Getty Images)

Winning a 268-mile race is incredible, but incredible may not be a strong enough word when it comes to the way in which ultrarunner Jasmin Paris did it. The female runner bested all her competitors, male and female alike, completing the UK's "grueling" Montane Spine Race on Wednesday in a time of 83 hours, 12 minutes, and 23 seconds, reports the Guardian. That's 12 hours less than the record set in 2016, and 26.5 hours less than the best time previously logged by a female. Oh, and the 35-year-old British veterinarian pumped breast milk for her 14-month-old daughter along the way. The process was a brutal one: Paris said she began hallucinating toward the end of the race, in which runners sleep only when they must and run all but a third of it in the dark. "I kept seeing animals appearing out of every rock," she says.

That's understandable: The BBC reports she logged seven hours of rest time (that includes pumping and eating, in addition to sleeping) over the four days. Runners must carry their own sleeping bag and other gear and suffer through wind chills of -4 degrees Fahrenheit. The Regina Leader-Post reports many drop out while traversing the Pennine Way, a trail "that elevates 37,000 feet as it continues north from England’s Derbyshire region near Manchester all the way into Scotland." Paris' plan following the race, per a Facebook post: "It's time for baby cuddles and some serious sleeping." (More running stories.)

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