Big's Backyard Ultra

Great job, Ihor!

Go Harvey!

It's over! Harvey wins with a new world record

It's a record but not a world record.

That was amazing

What backyard went longer? This isn't an IAAF event

Like I said Kipchoge would’ve got to 600.

Human spirit at its finest. pushing to the limit. Well done

Black page worthy!!

BLACK PAGE!

Absolutely incredible performance by Harvey Lewis and the other 5 competitors that lasted over 100 hours (416 miles).

Very few competitions completely redefine what is possible and that happened this year at the Big's Backyard Ultra World Championships.

As the race director Laz Lake posted in his update after hour 60, in 2019 the winner of Big's only did 60 yards. This year 31 people were still going after 2.5 days and 250 miles.

Sure, it is a silly competition, but Laz did pull together some world class competition and the athletes performed beyond expectations.

Back in 2019 Letsrun wrote about Yiannis Kouros's most impressive records, and while they decided his 24 hour record was the most impressive, the writeup noted that: "the 6-day race is a classic distance in ultrarunning since the 6-day race became VERY popular back in the 1870s when up to 70,000 paying spectators would watch them. In the 1800s, it was likely a six-day race and not a seven-day race because the sabbath was taken a little more seriously back then. Regardless, Kouros has a fine history in the event. Only 11 times has a human covered more than 1,000 km in 6 days on foot and Kouros is the leader of the group at 1,036.8 km or 644.2 miles back in 2005. Kouros is the only human to have run more than 1,000 km in six days more than once – he’s done it 4 times and has 4 of the top 5 marks in history."

letsrun.com

GOAT: Yiannis Kouros' 24-Hour Record of 303.306 KM (188.68 Miles) From 1997 Is The Greatest Ultramarathon World Record

LetsRun.com

There's no world record easier to understand in the ultramarathon world than, "How far can you run in a day?" And there's been no human in history that has come anywhere close to Yiannis Kouros in a 24 hour period.

Open link

Backyard Ultras are relatively new, but I think that it is likely that anyone who can last for 416 miles and 100 hours at a backyard ultra involving tough trail and lots of elevation gain would have a reasonable shot at surpassing the world record for 6 days on a flat course.

How long did you last?

I tried to be interested in Big's this year, I researched the records and competitors this year, watched a lot of the live stream....but it is just BORING. Completely unimpressive. I was shocked how often they walked.

They are doing 10 minute miles for 4 miles, then they get a 15 min rest. Why even give them a break? Just run continuously until there's only 1 person left.

I will gladly call your BS. Why did you watch a lot of the live stream if it was boring?

The backyard format by including a start and finish every hour ensures lots of exhilarating drama. For example, did you watch the start of lap 104, where Bartosz Fudali from Poland and Ihor Verys (Canada/Ukraine) started and then walked together before embracing before Bartosz gave up and walked back to the start.

I've watched a lot of running races but especially for marathons I find it really boring to follow paced races with minimal action until the last couple miles. Sure, you occasionally have absolute gems like NYC 2017 with Shalane Flannagan's f@#$ yeah (Letsrun wtf can't I post profanity any more), but those seem to be getting farther and farther between.

Long distance running races are often boring because the racers get so spread out that there is no interaction with other runners. Kiptum, for example, won the Chicago marathon by about 3.5 minutes.

Also, the duel to the death format of the backyard ultra is admittedly dangerous. It's a strategic game where endurance is more important than speed.

I haven't raced a backyard ultra, but I did a silly 24 hours of 5ks event - 5k every hour for 24 hours, and I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the regular starts and finishes.

BLACK PAGE!

Agree not running. Look at how slow these miles are. Laz himself can do it I’m sure 300 miles. What people do on the track and marathon is amazing this is…….silliness.

My take is turn it into a fist fight after 250 miles. Or perhaps turn it into you have to drink a certain amount of milk or soy milk before your next lap.

I've done the Ohio Backyard (one of the regional races that can now qualify you for Big's) twice and the format is really interesting versus regular races. Speed does nothing for you in a Backyard race, unless you need a longer rest interval to take care of business (change clothes, porta-potty, sleep, etc.). A backyard race is something anyone can do - people in the race had different goals and everyone ran together at the beginning of every hour. Some people were looking to cover a marathon distance, some 50k, some going after their first 50 mile run, etc. Compared to a traditional race, it's a low-pressure way to cover some distance and have some fun, and when you've had your fill of running you pack up and go home.
I wasn't interested in a blood & guts duel to the death, I just wanted to experience the format and see if I liked it. 12 hours on the trail course, 12 hours overnight on the road. It was great - the first time I did it, I wanted to get some trail miles in as part of my training for other races. Once it got to the road section I thought "I'll just keep rolling because this feels easy and as long as I stay warm enough, I'll keep going," Once we switched back to the trail, I realized a lot of people would drop out at 100 miles so I went for two more hours - I could have kept going, but I got out of the event what I wanted and I had to get home and do my chores! The 2nd time I did it was just for fun - I got through the trail miles, did one road loop and went home (thank God because it started raining like hell!).

Not every race or event has to be a goal race - the backyard format is a cool way to do an ultra for ANYONE, and it's a great way to get some training miles in for another goal race (or sleep deprivation training). I'm no speedster, but it took a few hours to relax and just float through the early part of every loop and chat with people who were just looking to go 50k or 50 miles. I'm sure once the field gets whittled down, there's a little more competitive fire, but early on you find yourself rooting for people to hit their goals - in a regular race, those folks would have been way behind most of the field but with the whole field starting together every hour, you got to know the other people and you started pulling for them.

Adding my 2 cents (probably not worth even that!)
450 miles is insane. Just to be awake and moving for that many hours is unbelievable - does that make these guys the greatest runners on the planet? Not by most people's definition of what makes a great runner - it's like comparing a sprinter to a marathoner; both are running-related but they are completely different activities.

It is a unique skill set to be able to go for THAT long - it's a mix of running, endurance, fueling, managing sleep deprivation, and mostly mental toughness to keep your $hit together. I know Harvey - he's a super nice guy and he has a niche ability in certain events that require unique skills to just keep going. Badwater, 24 hour races, and particularly the Backyard are right in his wheelhouse. I know he's attempted Barkley before and he earned another entry by winning Big's - if he can figure out the orienteering part of that race, he has the ability to JUST KEEP GOING, so he could be a Barkley finisher if things come together for him.

Barkley marathon….another Laz favoritism contest. Question how does Jamil freaking Coury get into Barkley whenever he wants and he is just a race director at this point? Laz picks who Laz likes. I know great runners who weren’t accepted for worse runners.