Backyard Ultra World Record: Geerts and Steyaert Reach 124 Yards and Stop Together
The backyard ultra world record now stands at 124 yards. Belgians Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert completed them at the Big’s Backyard Ultra World Team Championship, which started on Saturday 17 October at the same moment in every country, and chose not to start yard 125. Because neither of them finished a lap alone, the Belgian race ended without a winner. The previous mark, 119 yards, belonged to Australia’s Phil Gore.
How a backyard ultra works
At the top of every hour you start a 6,706-metre (4.167-mile) loop, called a yard, and you have to finish it before the hour is up. Whatever time is left goes on eating, the toilet, changing clothes or a few minutes with your eyes shut. When the next hour starts, you are back on the start line. Miss the start or fail to close the loop inside the hour and you are out.
The last runner standing wins, on one condition: they have to complete one more yard alone. If the last two runners retire on the same yard, there is no winner. That is what happened in Belgium this year, and in the Belgian race of 2024 as well.
The 124 yards add up to 831.5 km over 124 straight hours, or five days and four hours. The slowest pace that still closes a yard inside the hour is about 8:57 per kilometre (14:24 per mile). Running a yard faster buys more minutes to recover, at the cost of more energy spent on each one.
The backyard ultra Team Championship: 69 nations, one start
The championship is not held in one place. Each country stages its own satellite race and they all start together: 07:00 US Central Time, 14:00 in mainland Spain. Each nation fields up to 15 runners and its score is the sum of all their yards, with no discards. The official championship leaderboard lists 69 teams.
The United States won the title with 1,120 yards. Dowdle closed their race with 107, one more than Noll. Australia were second with 1,069 and Belgium third with 1,058, despite having the two runners with the most yards in the championship. Japan scored 1,038, 20 short of the podium.
| Place | Nation | Team yards | Last one standing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States | 1,120 | Dowdle (107) |
| 2 | Australia | 1,069 | Camac (87) |
| 3 | Belgium | 1,058 | No winner: Geerts and Steyaert (124) |
| 4 | Japan | 1,038 | Kawahata (105) |
Belgium were the defending champions. In 2024 they scored 1,147 yards, the team championship record according to the official Big’s Backyard Ultra website, and nobody beat it this year.
Geerts and Steyaert had already tied in 2024
This is the second shared finish for the two Belgians. At the 2024 Team Championship they reached 110 yards with Frank Gielen, and none of the three could complete a solo yard. Those 110 yards were also a backyard ultra world record. This time they went 14 yards further than two years ago and 5 further than Gore, who held the record with 119 yards at Dead Cow Gully in Australia, as the official race listing shows. Those 5 yards are 33.5 km. Stopping together cost them an individual win, and both are credited with 124 yards on the official leaderboard.
Spain and the Spanish-speaking nations
Spain finished 47th with 358 yards. Fourteen of its fifteen runners completed 24 yards and one stopped at 22. Nobody started yard 25, so the Spanish race ended after exactly one day with no individual winner. Twenty-four yards is 160.9 km, just over 100 miles.
Mexico were the best Spanish-speaking nation, 13th with 663 yards. Argentina were 21st with 545, Venezuela 34th with 436, Colombia 40th with 400 and Uruguay 48th with 356.
What a recreational runner can take from the format
If you have never run a backyard ultra, the format suits a first go at long distances: you pass the start every hour, your bag and food are always there, and you can stop at the end of any yard. If it is also your first time off road, our guide to your first trail race covers gear and basic preparation.
Pacing is worth rehearsing in training. A 45-minute yard leaves a quarter of an hour to rest, but repeated for many hours it costs more than an easy 55-minute yard. Look for a pace you could hold all day, closer to an easy run than to race pace. The training pace calculator shows where that pace sits for you.
Food runs on the hour. The gap between yards is when you eat sitting down, and over a full day of racing the carbohydrates add up quickly. The race carb calculator gives you an hourly figure to start testing on long runs.
From the first night on, sleep comes in naps of a few minutes inside that gap. Our article on sleep and running performance explains what happens when rest runs short. Durability matters too: keeping your form and economy after many hours on your feet, which a recent study measured in trail runners and which we cover in running durability.
Frequently asked questions
What is the backyard ultra world record?
124 yards, 831.5 km, set by Belgians Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert at the October 2026 Team Championship. They beat Phil Gore’s 119 yards.
Why was there no winner in Belgium?
A backyard ultra winner has to complete one yard alone after the last rival drops. Geerts and Steyaert finished yard 124 together and neither started yard 125.
How long is a backyard ultra yard?
6,706 metres (4.167 miles), to be completed in under an hour before starting again at the top of the next hour. Twenty-four yards add up to 160.9 km.
Which country won the 2026 backyard ultra Team Championship?
The United States, with 1,120 yards across its 15 runners. Australia were second with 1,069 and Belgium third with 1,058.
