Backyard ultra
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The backyard ultra or last one standing is a form of ultramarathon race where competitors must consecutively run the distance of 6.706 kilometres (4.167 mi) in less than one hour. They must repeat this every hour until only one person completes a full lap - the last one standing. [1]
The backyard ultra format has gained a reputation for its grueling and unpredictable nature, as well as the camaraderie among participants. Challenges include sleep deprivation, exhaustion, and varying weather conditions.
History
[edit]Backyard ultras are the invention of Gary "Lazarus Lake" Cantrell,[2] who is also one of the founders and race directors of the Barkley Marathons.
The original backyard ultra is Big's Backyard Ultra, which is held on Cantrell's property in Bell Buckle, Tennessee and is named after his dog.[3][4][5] Today, Big's is an invitational race where the top competitors participate based on wins in a bracket of the various American and international backyard ultras.[2]
Description
[edit]Exactly one hour after a backyard ultra's first starting time, the competitors must run 4.167 miles (6.706 km) within a one-hour window to finish. These laps are repeated hourly. The race is won when a single runner successfully completes a lap alone.[6] This runner is marked as the winner and only finisher, with all other runners receiving a "DNF" (Did Not Finish). If no competitor manages one more lap than the others, then all athletes receive a DNF and there is no winner. The total distance run by a competitor who completes 24 laps is exactly 100 miles. The runner who completes the second-most laps in a race is often referred to as the "assist".[7]
Records
[edit]Phil Gore (Australia) holds the world record of 119 loops (495.8 miles (797.9 km)), assisted by Sam Harvey (New Zealand) at the Dead Cow Gully event in Queensland, Australia on 26 June 2025.[8] [9]
The female world record for a backyard ultra performance is 87 laps (362.5 miles (583 km)) set by Meg Eckert at the 2024 Backyard Ultra World Team Championship in Tennessee.[10]
Milestone backyard ultra performances
[edit]Milestone backyard ultra performances, including world records and women's world records (WWR).
| Yards | Name | Nationality | Runner Up "Assist" | Date | Event/Place | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 119 | Phil Gore | Australia | Sam Harvey (NZ) | 26-Jun-2025 | Dead Cow Gully, Qld, Australia | [8] |
| 116 | Łukasz Wróbel | Poland | Jan Vandekerckhove (Belgium) | 1-May-2025 | Legends Backyard Ultra, Retie, Belgium | [11] |
| 110 | Merijn Geerts, Ivo Steyaert, and Frank Gielen | Belgium | n/a | 24-Oct-2024 | Retie, Belgium | Backyard Ultra World Team Championship [12] |
| 108 | Harvey Lewis | USA | Ihor Verys (Canada) | 25-Oct-2023 | Bigs Backyard Ultra, Tennessee, USA | [13] |
| 102 | Phil Gore | Australia | Sam Harvey (NZ) | 21-Jun-2023 | Dead Cow Gully, Qld, Australia | [14] |
| 87 (WWR) | Meg Eckert | USA | n/a | 24-Oct-2024 | Tennessee | Backyard Ultra World Team Championship[10] |
| 74 (WWR) | Jennifer Russo | USA | n/a | 2023 | Capital Backyard Ultra in Lorton, VA | [15] |
| 68 (WWR) | Courtney Dauwalter | USA | n/a | 2020 | Bigs Backyard Ultra, Tennessee, USA | [16] |
| 60 (WWR) | Maggie Guterl | USA | n/a | Oct, 2019 | Bigs Backyard Ultra, Tennessee, USA |
Female overall winner[17] |
| 30 (WWR) | Katie Wright | UK | n/a | May, 2019 | Riverhead Backyard Relaps Ultramarathon, New Zealand | Female overall winner[18] |
References
[edit]- ^ Milne, Keely (October 20, 2024). "8 fun facts about backyard ultras you probably didn't know". Canadian Trail Running. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ a b "For Ukrainian Runners, a Brutal Race Made Sense When Little Else Did". The New York Times. 23 October 2022.
- ^ "Last person standing: The race with no finish line". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-10-04.
- ^ "Big Dog's Backyard Ultra: The toughest, weirdest race you've never heard of". BBC Sport. 2021-04-21. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
- ^ Huber, Martin Fritz (2018-10-26). "The Existential Torture of a Race with No End". Outside Online. Retrieved 2025-06-29.
- ^ "Big Backyard Ultra - October 15, 2016". ultrasignup.com. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
- ^ Dawson, Andrew (Oct 30, 2020). "'Don't Ruin the Game': Why the Assist Runner in a Backyard Ultra Is So Important". Runners World. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ a b Gunders, Peter (26 June 2025). "Endurance athlete Phil Gore sets Backyard Ultra world record at Dead Cow Gully". ABC News. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ White, Mike (June 26, 2025). "Kiwi Sam Harvey breaks world ultra-running record before pulling out of race". New Zealand: Stuff Limited. The Post. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ a b "Superstar Meg Eckert Crushes Ultra Running Race with World-Record". Adventure On SI. 2024-11-08. Retrieved 2024-11-15.
- ^ Milne, Keeley (2025-05-01). "Backyard ultra world record goes down in Belgium". Canadian Running Magazine. Retrieved 2025-05-02.
- ^ "'I'm not going to move for two weeks': Belgian trio set ultramarathon world record". The Guardian. 2024-10-24. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ "Harvey Lewis Breaks Backyard Ultra World Record After Running Over 700k In Five Days". 2023-10-26. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
- ^ Gunders, Peter (21 June 2023). "Phil Gore sets Backyard Ultra world record in Dead Cow Gully endurance race". ABC News.
- ^ "Jennifer Russo Shatters Courtney Dauwalter's Backyard Ultra World Record". Runner's World. 2023-06-01. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
- ^ Dawson, Andrew (2020-10-20). "Courtney Dauwalter Wins U.S. Big's Backyard Ultra 2020 With a Record-Tying 68 Loops". Running World. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
- ^ "Maggie Guterl Is First Woman to Win Big's Backyard Ultra". Runner's World. 2019-10-23. Retrieved 2022-11-15.
- ^ "Running Doctor Scores World First For Women". newsroom.co.nz. Retrieved 2019-08-17.