BRITAIN’S Jasmin Paris has become the first woman to complete the Barkley Marathons, one of the most demanding and secretive ultra races in the world in which athletes have to cover 100 miles (161 kilometres) in 60 hours.

Paris met the cut-off time by a mere 99 seconds at Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee where athletes only have a compass and a rudimentary map at their disposal to find books and tear out the page corresponding with their start number to prove they have reached the checkpoints in each of the five loops, reported dpa.