I ❤ BYU

The Backyard Ultra consist of running 6.7 km or 4.17 miles every hour on the hour until only one runner remains.

Lazarus “Laz” Lake is a race director and race designer, probably most famous for the Barkley Marathon. 11 years ago he came up with Big’s Backyard Ultra, named after his dog ‘Big’. He divided 100 miles by 24 hours to establish the 4.17 mile loop or yard as it is most often referred to. In 2011 Tim Englund won with 18 yards, in the inaugural year no one even went 24 hours. This year there was no winner as two runners went 101 yards. If no competitor outlasts the other, there is no winner. Merjin Geerts & Ivo Steyaert of Belgium did however set a new world record with their 101 hour effort and decided the tie would make for a better story as their goal had been to break 100 hours.

I was introduced to the Backyard Ultra in July 2020, during the second Quarantine BYU organized by GrassRoots Racing. I ran for 15 hours (8 hours of which were in pouring rain), in a 3 block radius from my apartment on paved sidewalks. I remember promising myself that I would never run anything longer than a marathon on concrete ever again. I have since broken that promise to myself and certainly will again. I walked in the 16th hour, not because I couldn’t run anymore physically, but because it had stopped being fun at that point and I couldn’t see myself going till my next milestone 100 miles. So I called it at a little over 100 km, having doubled my previous longest run of 50 km.

If you’re interested in a play by play of my mindset, I recorded insta stories every hour of the event. It’s saved under QBU on my highlights @stepswithorsy

The following year, I entered a smaller version of a virtual BYU hosted by the Comox Valley Road Runners. I came in 13th out of 52 participants. I missed the 12 hour cut off by less than a minute, but felt better about stopping this time as I had stomach issues and knew that I had pushed myself to my limit for that day. It was interesting because I had only run 50 miles (80 km) but I felt better about the outcome as I wasn’t stopped by my mind this time. I could accept intense heat and faulty nutrition better than this isn’t fun anymore.

I was beyond excited when Lewiston Ultra Events announced the innaugral BC Backyard Ultra for 2022. Right away my goal was to run for 24 hours and hit 100 miles. I was hopeful that running with other people would make it easier, and grateful that two of my friends had also signed up for the event. While I had taken myself pretty far, I also decided to hire coaches for the first time, since I really wanted to level up my running. I hired Jenny Quilty & Katrina Abram from Pacific Pine Running Co, whose belief made a huge difference. It payed off, I finally hit that elusive 100 miles.

My big take away from that experience was you are carried by the love and belief of the people around you. More than any other running experience, the Backyard Ultra feels like a team sport. Yes, the winner can only go one more loop after the Assist stops, so you won’t go far if you don’t have at least one strong runner in the competition with you. The nature of the course itself helps, as you see your crew every hour. Without my sister taking care of me for 24 hours, and making sure all my needs were met, there is no conceivable way I could have lasted that long. The other runners were phenomanl and kept the negative thoughts at bay, especially through the night hours. The race director Kara Leinweber thought of every conceivable thing to make the event feel like a family affair, and I made connections there that will last me a lifetime.

Watching the World Championships this year, I was stoked to know 5 out of the 15 runners from Team Canada, as they had all participated in the BC BYU. I knew they would go far, and sure enough they came in 5th out of the 37 countries participating.  Ihor Verys won with 67 hours setting a new Canadian record and Amanda Nelson set a new Canadian Female record with 55 hours.

The thing that excites me about this race is the human potential. Often people double their previous distance. If the Belgian Ivo Steyaert can go from 50 hours to 101 hours in a year, could I not go from 24 to 48 hours? I guess I’ll find out next August at the GrassRoots BYU in Alberta…