The REAL Olympic spirit: The mother who ran 100 miles and WON

Motherhood is undoubtedly one of the hardest jobs there is — but some women make it look easy.

Jasmin Paris is one of them. Paris is not only a mother but somehow has also been able to accomplish being a clinical academic, small animal vet, teacher, and an ultramarathon runner.

Paris took life and literally ran with it. The mother became the first woman ever to finish a 100-mile ultramarathon called the Barkley Marathons and participated in the Spine Race — which is around 268 miles.

“The reason I signed up for it originally was when I was coming back into training after having my daughter, my first baby, and I kind of wanted a new challenge. Something that would keep me motivated,” Paris tells James Poulos of “Zero Hour.”

When her daughter was 10 months old, Paris was back at work full time — but that didn’t stop her from training for the Spine every single day.

“It’s difficult when you compare yourself to the way that you were before you had a kid, but if you sign up for something completely new, and a different challenge altogether, then you’ve got nothing to compare yourself against. You can just go into it completely new and excited,” she explains.

Poulos is thoroughly impressed.

“That’s beautiful, that you’re splitting your time, aside from family of course, between caring in expert ways for small animals, and then taking on some of the biggest challenges that just seem to be outside of all human proportions,” he tells Paris.

One of Paris’ main reasons for running the way she does is that she says it’s where she is truly herself.

“Once you kind of become a parent, I think it’s difficult to, alongside work, to keep something that’s just about you. And I personally found that having running helps me be a better parent,” she explains. “I also think it’s really good for the next generation, for my kids to see that I’m not just taking them around from swimming class to gymnastics class, with my whole life revolving around them.”

“It’s good for them to see that I’ve got a hobby as well, because if you want them to grow up like that, with a passion, and be ambitious, and believe in themselves, then you need to lead by example,” she adds.

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