by Melanie Campbell
A special and timely event was held by The Green Runners on Saturday 13th April at the Armitt Museum in Ambleside as part of environment month at the ‘Running int’ Fells’ exhibition. The exhibition is running throughout the year, celebrating the history and culture of fell running, as well as showcasing some of its best (and least) well-known faces.
Special guest at the event was none other than The Green Runners co-founder Jasmin Paris, hot off the heels of her recent history-making Barkley Marathon completion.
On Saturday, a small group gathered for a celebratory jog with Jasmin up the local Loughrigg Fell, before diving into cake and refreshments back at The Armitt. Jasmin was mingling and showing some of the signs her kit had suffered from the ‘war wounds’ of Barkley Marathons, with visible holes still in her leggings. The evening continued with a Q&A with Jasmin led by Jeevendra Singh, also a Green Runners co-founder.
Through a series of questions – naturally a high proportion of them centred around Barkley – from both Jeev and the audience, we were able to gain more insight into Jasmin. Jeev asked about the reception Jasmin had received since returning to the UK, and Jasmin said it had been quite low-key and she had gone back to work as normal, although there had been celebratory cake eaten at work.
Jeevendra said of the event on Saturday: “The event was a real success! It was great to have The Green Runners represented by Jasmin and I got to play a little part in it. It was a thrill to see so many members show up, too, and enjoy our jog up the fell. Kudos to ‘Running Int’ Fells’ and the Armitt Museum for making it happen. The social media posts and in-person feedback have clearly been very positive and I hope people found it inspiring as well as educational. As the Green Runners, we wanted to have a meaningful connection with the fell running community as we have shared values, and many Green Runners enjoy fell running! I think this event made that connection and paved the way for more in the future.”.
I was thrilled at the opportunity to ask Jasmin a few questions myself. One was around ‘maranoia’, which is the term for the anxiousness people normally get before a marathon. Worried that they may get injured or ill. As this was Jasmin’s third attempt at completing the Barkley Marathons, and as has been well-documented, she had a very positive feeling that this was the year she would do it. I was curious about the level of maranoia that might have affected her.
To this question, Jasmin responded that she did in fact have a slight niggle in her right leg a couple of days prior to Barkley, that was of concern, but that it had dissipated when race day arrived.
I was also keen to know about the documenting of the event this year, in movie form. There are some very well-known documentaries that centre around Barkley Marathons, ‘The Race That Eats Its Young’ (Netflix) and ‘Where Dreams Go to Die – with Gary Robbins’, being probably the best-known ones. To this end, I asked Jasmin if she was aware, and if she could disclose, whether there would likely be a film released at some point covering this historic event. Her answer was that although she had had discussions about projects like that since the event, there was no specific filming at the event. Jasmin did mention that she and Damian Hall, another participant at the Barkley Marathons and co-founder of The Green Runners, had been approached by a company prior to the race and the BBC had been given an option to cover the event, but didn’t take it up (!).
Pete Todhunter, who organised and is overseeing the exhibition at The Armitt Museum commented “It is fantastic that the Running int’ Fells exhibition provided a platform for Jasmin Paris and The Green Runners to share their passion, knowledge and experiences with others.”
About the author
Melanie is a south coast (Dorset-based) runner who is known for being slightly obsessed with everything to do with running. An ambassador for the National Running Show, she has completed London Marathon four times, one ultramarathon (Race to The Castle) and several smaller distances. Melanie is passionate about encouraging women especially to take up running for the benefits of confidence and mental wellbeing, not just physical.
