What Is a Backyard Ultra?
Published updated by My Mind is Racing
A backyard ultra is a last-person-standing footrace. Every runner attempts the same 4.167-mile (6.7 km) loop, starting at the top of each hour. Miss the next start and you are out. The sole runner to complete a final loop unmatched is the winner; if the last two runners both fail to finish, the race ends with no winner.
Rules
Each loop must be completed inside its hour. Runners gather at the start corral before the next bell and depart together — there is no head start for finishing early. A runner who does not toe the line for the next loop, or who fails to complete it within the hour, is out of the race. The format strips ultrarunning down to one question: are you willing to start one more lap?
Distance and format
The 4.167-mile loop length is not arbitrary. Twenty-four loops cover 100 miles — a 100-mile day, but only if you can keep going for a full 24 hours. Most races use a single forest-trail loop by day and switch to a road or open-field loop at night so runners can see their footing under headlamps.
How a race ends
The race continues until only one runner finishes a loop within the hour. That runner — known as the "Last Person Standing" — is the sole winner. If the final two runners both fail to complete the deciding loop, the race has no winner; the assist rule says you cannot share the win.
A short history
Gary Cantrell, better known as Lazarus Lake, started Big's Backyard Ultra in Bell Buckle, Tennessee in the early 2010s. The format grew quickly: satellite events around the world now qualify their winners for Big's, and national-team formats let countries match their best ultrarunners against each other. The appeal is universal — every race is its own story of attrition.
Frontyard ultras
A frontyard ultra is the same last-person-standing format moved out of the woods and into town. The rules are unchanged — a 4.167-mile loop on the hour, miss a start and you are out — but the course is staged in a city centre or other public space rather than a rural backyard. Bringing the loop downtown trades forest single-track for footpaths and a crowd: spectators can watch every runner return and set off again each hour, which makes the frontyard variant one of the more public-facing corners of the sport.
The name is a deliberate play on "backyard," and it is now an established label in its own right. Events such as the Melbourne Frontyard Ultra and Herdy's Frontyard Ultra run to standard backyard rules, while a handful of regional races tweak the timing — Finland's frontyard, for example, starts with a 30-minute first loop and shaves a minute off each hour. If you would rather race where friends and family can cheer you through the small hours, a frontyard ultra is the format to look for.
Notable races
- Big's Backyard Ultra (Bell Buckle, Tennessee) — the original.
- GMR Backyard Ultra (Golden, Colorado)
- Sky Pilots Ouray Backyard Ultra (Ouray, Colorado)
- Airdrie Backyard Ultra (Airdrie, Alberta)
- Austria Backyard Ultra – Seekirchen (Seekirchen am Wallersee, Austria)
- Morocco Backyard Ultra (Maâmora, Morocco)
- BC Backyard Ultra (Salmon Arm, British Columbia)
- Underdogs (Romania)
- Last Herron Standing (Kalispell, Montana)
- Death at DuPuis (Florida)
Records
The format's records change with every running. The current overall record exceeds 100 loops and continues to climb as elite ultrarunners adapt their pacing and recovery strategies to the format's metronomic demands. National and team records likewise move year to year.
Upcoming races
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Sat, Jul 18, 2026
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Sat, Jul 18, 2026 at 8:00 AM
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Fri, Jul 24, 2026 at 7:00 PM
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Sat, Jul 25, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Frequently Asked Questions
How long is a backyard ultra loop?
A backyard ultra loop is 4.167 miles (6.7 km). At one loop per hour, completing 24 loops covers 100 miles in 24 hours.
How does a backyard ultra end?
The race ends when only one runner finishes a loop within the hour. The last runner standing is the sole winner; if no one finishes the final loop, the race has no winner.
Who invented the backyard ultra?
Gary Cantrell, also known as Lazarus Lake, created the format at Big's Backyard Ultra in Bell Buckle, Tennessee.
What is the world record for the most laps?
The record continues to climb as the format grows; check current results from Big's Backyard Ultra and major satellite events for the latest mark.
What is a frontyard ultra?
A frontyard ultra is the same last-person-standing format as a backyard ultra, run on the standard 4.167-mile hourly loop, but staged in a city centre or other public space instead of a rural backyard. The urban setting makes it more spectator-friendly while the rules stay the same.
How do I find a backyard ultra near me?
Use our event listing filtered by the Backyard Ultra tag to see upcoming races by location and date.