Behind the Scenes at the Backyard Ultra World Championships

This is what happened at the Backyard Ultra World Championships. At 1pm UK time on Saturday, 69 countries started the same race at the same moment. I spent 30 hours with the UK team, commentating on the world stream, watching sleep deprivation do its thing and trying to work out how anyone keeps doing this. If you have never heard of a backyard ultra, it is very simple and very cruel. You run 4.167 miles every hour on the hour. If you are not on the start line for the next lap, you are out. Everyone is a DNF except the last runner standing. In this video I cover how the team championships work, what life inside the UK team tent looks like, the Spain course flooding, Kenya losing three runners, why backyard ultras have exploded in popularity, and the leaderboard when I filmed (USA on 1,120 yards, Australia on 1,069, Belgium on 1,044, and the UK in fifth with 939). I also explain the golden ticket that takes each national champion to Big’s Backyard Ultra. Huge thanks to Eric and the Rasselbock Running team, who put this event on completely unfunded. Please go and subscribe to their channel ‪@RasselbockRunning‬ so they can afford to keep doing it. Have you taken on a backyard ultra? Tell me your yardage in the comments. #backyardultra #ultramarathon #running whats in the video ⬇️ 0:00 The Race That Started in 69 Countries at Once 0:43 What Is a Backyard Ultra? 1:14 Lazarus Lake and the Championship Format 2:19 Commentating With the UK Team 3:15 Inside the UK Team HQ 4:28 Things Got Weird 5:14 107,000 Viewers and Commentary Chaos 6:40 Why Backyard Ultras Are Exploding 7:50 The Unfunded Event 8:55 The Golden Ticket to Big's Backyard Ultra 9:29 The Runners Who Refuse to Set a Goal 10:17 The Leaderboard and the UK Result 11:14 Backyard Ultras: Yay or Nay?