16th November 2024

I did my fourth backyard ultra.

Running 6.72km on the hour every hour, either to be the last person running or as for all but the winner a DNF. This is a race with a different format. Every hour all runners must be ready to set of on a yard/lap, 4.167miles (chosen so in 24hrs you will cover 100 miles). The race continues until only one runner completes a lap, they are the only finisher, everyone else is recorded as DNF.

God’s Own Backyard Ultra is a lovely little event, around 70-80 runners take part, most of us for the DNF, many of us repeat offenders (doing the same race every year). It actually feels more like a party of like-minded runners than a race. The course is near Kirkstall, Leeds and is a mixture of canal towpaths, trails and some tarmac. I had the pleasure of catching up with lots of old friends I only meet on this races or other ultras, furthermore we also had a couple of backyard ultra virgins (Paul from our Striders contingency and Kevin from HRRC) and my friend Steve doing his second or third backyard ultra.

This year we mainly had to struggle with the cold weather, thankfully it hardly rained. Overall I enjoyed most of the race and DNFed after 17 yards (we call each lap a yard ) a new long distance record for me and 5 more yards than my previous backyard ultra record. What else can I say? I loved the race, and watching many of my backyard friends breaking their own records. What I didn’t love was waking up in a frozen tent after three hours sleep (yes it was as we say ice cold )

This is part of the Backyard Ultra series and originates from the twisted mind of Lazarus Lake of Barkley marathon fame.

The only finisher was Vic Owens, she did 40 yards/laps, 166.7 miles  Full results

Strider results

There were three Striders present:

Robert Hoffmann who managed 17 yards/laps, 70.8 miles before DNFing

Paul Hargreaves and Steve Blake who both managed 12 yards, 50 miles before their DNFs

Full results

https://www.timingmonkey.co.uk/results/GodsOwnBYUFall24/#0_5C4795