History-making ultra-runner Jasmin Paris hailed the importance of female role models in sport, saying “you need to see it to believe it’s possible”, as she collected her MBE.
Speaking after the ceremony at Windsor Castle on Wednesday, Dr Paris said she felt “very honoured” and “grateful” to be awarded the honour by the Prince of Wales.
The 40-year-old Scot, from Gorebridge in Midlothian, has completed some of the toughest races around the world.
In March this year, the veterinary lecturer made history by becoming the first woman to complete the 100-mile Barkley Marathons in Tennessee, crossing the finish line with 99 seconds to spare before the 60-hour cut-off.
Regarding the MBE, awarded for services to fell and long-distance running, Dr Paris said: “It feels like I sort of got awarded it partly because of the Barkley Marathons and becoming the first woman to finish that.
“Even at that time, it felt like I had done it for women across the word, becoming the first woman to finish it, so it feels like I’m sort of getting the award on behalf of all those women trying new things and breaking through glass ceilings everywhere.”
Dr Paris said she thought having female role models and equal media coverage of women’s sport was a crucial part of encouraging young girls to participate in PE lessons and take up sports.
She continued: “There’s lots of practical things that make it easier to keep girls in sport and even women running marathons or taking part in trial races and so on later on.
“Making sure there’s the right training facilities available to them, making sure there’s products for periods, for women that have children – making sure you can do pregnancy deferrals at races.
“It’s a combination of having the role models and celebrating them, giving women’s sport appropriate coverage on all the channels in the same way that men’s sport is given coverage, and giving women’s sport the same sort of sponsorship and funding.
“But really starting from the grassroots, you need to see it to believe it’s possible.”
Dr Paris said she had chatted about running with William when she collected her honour and he had asked whether completing such long distances caused knee pain.
The runner continued: “I encouraged him to give it a go in the fells and he asked me what race I would recommend in the UK.
“I recommended the Wasdale Horseshoe Fell Race which is a fairly classic, fairly long fell.
“He asked me how long that was and I said ‘I think it’s about 23 miles’, and he said ‘that’s still quite a long way’.”
Regarding her advice for beginner runners, Dr Paris said it was all about “little steps”.
She continued: “So even when I’m running a 100-mile race, I don’t think about the whole thing, I just think about the next hill that I’m climbing or the next descent that I’m doing – so you never overwhelm yourself with the whole picture.
“For the person that’s starting out, I would say just get out there and make a start – if you walk and then just run a few steps and walk again, you’ll gradually find you’re running more.”
She said she thought running with friends and finding communities such as local parkruns were great ways to inspire amateur joggers.
Dr Paris won the British Fell Running Championships in 2015 and again in 2018.
She had previously held the record in the Bob Graham Round, a fell-running challenge in the Lake District, and the Ramsay Round near Fort William.
Outside of running, Dr Paris is a senior lecturer in small animal medicine at the University of Edinburgh and a mother of two.
