A fantastic bit of writing by Remy Jegard
"For a few seconds ...
Still not getting over it. Since that moment so amazing, so out of time, I can't stop watching the video. As if to prove to me that this happened, that I didn't dream. But nope.
Jasmin Paris has successfully completed the monumental feat of finishing Barkley. She “just” went to the end of herself and also to the end of suspense.
The scene is forever etched in my memory. Like a piece of eternity that only sports can offer us sometimes. Simple. Intense. Unbelievable. To rip our souls out and shed our tears.
So im telling you. Quickly.
We are all around the yellow gate. Runners, Assistants, Spectators, Media A hundred in all maybe.
And we properly applauded those who reached the bottom of the five loops. There's Gentleman Jared with his 4th hit, Country kid John with his 3rd hit and then Ihor who stunned everyone in the gifted virgin and also Greg the bumper who finally touches his dream...
There's kissing, laughter, talking... and then.... and then after the abandonments of Sébastien and Damien, there's only one person left in the race. Jasmine Paris.
And the time is running inexorably. For many, for almost everyone, it's already screwed. She just can't make it. He was seen passing to the Tower around 1:40pm with only 3:37' remaining to rally the arrival. It's just too little. Last year Karel put in more than 4h. This year Guillaume put in just 4h for his amazing fun run. And then even the winner of the day, Ihor, also put in 4h. How could she do any better? How is that even possible ? Her teammate reassures herself by explaining that in the first round she put in just under 3 hours... but he looks so lonely taking down his litany.
Only ten mins left. Its 5:07pm @ frozen park
Well come on, we have to get to the obvious. This is ****ed up. The first "finisher", it won't be for this year. And yet who could do it if it's not Jasmine?
And then a noise in the distance. Like a bark. My next door buddy tells me this is a dog. But I also see a kid running at the end of the straight line that leads to Gate. He announces to his mother that a "racer" is coming. May she come through. The rumor is spreading quickly. This is incredible. Here she comes !!
Jasmine is on the bitumen. Almost 1 kilometer to go. And the minutes go by. Only 5 minutes to go People are starting to scream. They don't see it but whistle and cheer for it as loud as they can. Tension is at its peak. "Jasmine, jasmine !! "
And finally we see her Only 4 minutes to go. She's going to make it. She sprinting. She's going beyond what her body can take. We all scream. We cry at the same time. We are out of time. We are all with her. She so amazing right now Nothing matters anymore.
And she touches yellow gate. It seemed impossible. And yet she did it. Rarely have I experienced this emotion. I have the chills. At a loss for words She is collapsing and appears to be curling up around the fence. 1 kilometer sprint after 60 hours of effort.
She collapses on the side and it will take a few minutes to come back to her senses. She gave her all and then she gave us all. For 99 seconds, Jasmin Paris did the unthinkable. She put barkley down
I will never forget this moment. How I didn't forget about six seconds of Gary.... who else was there, just as disbelief as the rest of us.
Jared and John look at each other and don't look back. What she did there is simply beyond everything. She destroyed us all, carried us all....
There you go. It is finished. Jasmin Paris is out of the ordinary. And forever the first Barkley finisher."
