THE FORMAT · THE CONSTITUTION

WHAT IS A BACKYARD ULTRA?

One loop. One hour. Until one remains. A backyard ultra strips running down to a single question you have to answer at the top of every hour: can you go again? There's no set distance and no finish line to pace toward — only the next bell. Keep answering it and you keep running. Miss it once and you're out.

The rules fit in a sentence: run a 6.706km loop every hour, on the hour, until you can't.

ONE HOUR, EVERY HOUR

THE 6.706 KM LOOP

Every loop is exactly 6.706 km and starts precisely on the hour. Finish inside 60 minutes, then wait in the corral for the next bell. Slow loops steal your rest; fast loops burn your legs. Managing that gap — not the running — is the sport.

RUNNING48 min
IN THE CORRAL12 min
33 min — the fastest loop in our record59 min

The hour does not move. Run the loop in 48 minutes and 12 minutes are yours. Protecting that gap is the sport.

48 minutes running, 12 minutes in the corral.

THE NUMBER

WHY 6.706 KM?

6.706 km× 24 =100 miles

Because 6.706 × 24 = 100 miles. Run a full day of loops and you've covered 160 km. The format was created by Gary "Lazarus Lake" Cantrell in Tennessee — the same mind behind the Barkley Marathons — and it now runs in 70+ countries, all feeding one world championship at Big's Backyard Ultra. BigFoot chapters are part of that global circuit.

6.706 kmone loop, every hour
60 minthe cap, and the whole clock
160.9 kma full day of loops
HOW A RACE IS DECIDED

THE NINE ARTICLES

Not house style. These are the sport's own rules, and the same ones our timing desk enforces — it refuses to file a result that breaks any of them.

ARTICLE 1 — The loop

Every loop is 6.706 km, and every loop starts precisely on the hour.

100 miles divided by 24 hours. Run a full day of them and you have run 160 km.

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  1. Article 1 — The loop

    Every loop is 6.706 km, and every loop starts precisely on the hour.

    100 miles divided by 24 hours. Run a full day of them and you have run 160 km.

  2. Article 2 — The hour

    Finish the loop inside 60 minutes and be back in the corral when the next bell rings.

    Whatever is left of the hour is yours — eat, change, sleep, repair. Whistles at 3, 2 and 1 minute. Then the bell.

  3. Article 3 — The yard

    A yard is a loop completed inside its hour. Nothing else counts as one.

    A loop you started and did not finish, a bell you were not in the corral for, a loop you were disqualified on — real, recorded, and not a yard. Your total is the loops you finished.

  4. Article 4 — The winner

    The winner is the last runner standing, who then completes one more yard alone.

    So a finished race always reads winner = assist + 1. A winner two yards clear is a data-entry error, not a race — our timing desk refuses to file one.

  5. Article 5 — The assist

    The assist is the runner with the second-most yards — the last to fall, whose exit sent the winner out alone.

    An honour, not a runner-up placing. The record is not possible without the two, which is why Winner Takes 53K pays both.

  6. Article 6 — Everyone else

    Every other starter records a DNF. There is exactly one finisher.

    However far they ran. DNF here is the receipt of a real attempt, with a number on it.

  7. Article 7 — No winner

    If the last runner fails that final solo yard, there is no winner at all and the whole field is a DNF.

    Nobody is promoted on the highest loop count. The format would rather record no winner than invent one.

  8. Article 8 — The disqualification

    A disqualification is a DNF, but not an honest one.

    Shortcuts, pacing, outside assistance on course, littering. Stated as a DQ on the result sheet and counted separately from the runners who fell honestly.

  9. Article 9 — The capped categories

    Backyard 4, 8, 15 and 24 have no winner: you are a finisher at exactly the category's loop count, and a DNF below it.

    Completing the cap ends your race. Capped runners never place in the Last One Standing result — they are the way up to it.

These nine decide a race. Conduct, course, crew and the mandatory night kit — the rules you are held to on the day — are the rulebook's job.

READ THE FULL RULEBOOK
CHOOSE YOUR RUNG

FIVE RUNGS, ONE LADDER

One race, five ways in — and only the top rung has a winner.

  • BACKYARD 4

    4 LOOPS · 26.8 km

    PUNE · AHMEDABAD · CHANDIGARH

  • BACKYARD 8

    8 LOOPS · 53.6 km

    PUNE · AHMEDABAD · CHANDIGARH

  • BACKYARD 15

    15 LOOPS · 101 km

    AHMEDABAD

  • BACKYARD 24

    24 LOOPS · 161 km

    Announced per chapter

  • BACKYARD ULTRA

    NO CAP

    PUNE · AHMEDABAD · CHANDIGARH

Which rungs a chapter runs, and when, is on its own page.

SEE EVERY CHAPTER
THE FILM

SEE IT BEFORE YOU RUN IT

Eight minutes on what the bell, the corral and the last hour actually look like.

THE GLOBAL CIRCUIT

THE ROAD TO BIG'S BACKYARD

Every backyard in the world runs the same loop and the same hour, which is why a yard run in India counts exactly as much as a yard run in Tennessee. The circuit turns that into a path, and it runs on a two-year cycle.

  1. BRONZE TICKET

    Win a Bronze Ticket race and you have a start line waiting at a Silver Ticket race. This is the first rung, and any chapter can be one.

  2. SILVER TICKET

    Win a Silver Ticket race and you take a seat on your national team. Chandigarh is BigFoot’s Silver Ticket chapter. The rest of the team is filled at large, by the highest yard counts the country records inside the qualifying window — so a big number anywhere still counts.

  3. THE SATELLITE TEAM RACE

    In the even year the whole world races at once. Every national team runs its own Satellite Team Championship at home, same hour, same loop, scored together — India races India’s course, not a flight away.

  4. BIG’S, THE WORLD FINAL

    The 50 best winning distances from those satellite races earn a start at the World Individual Championship at Big’s Backyard Ultra in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, the following October. That is the last corral there is.

The dates and qualifying windows move with each cycle and are published by the circuit, not by us — the ladder itself is what stays the same.

THE NATIONAL RECORD, AND WHAT IT PAYS
THE TRUTH ABOUT DNF

THE ONLY FINISHER IS THE LAST ONE STANDING

Timed categories earn a finisher medal. In Last One Standing, one runner wins — everyone else records a DNF and takes home a memento stamped with their loop count. In a backyard, that's not failure. It's the receipt of a real attempt.

FIND YOUR CHAPTERSTART AT A TRIAL RUN
ASKED EVERY SINGLE TIME

THE FORMAT, IN PLAIN ANSWERS

What happens between loops?

You rest, eat, change socks, question your choices. Your crew can help you — only at the start/finish area, never out on the loop.

What if I finish a loop late?

The loop does not count and your race is over. There is no exception clause — the bell is the same for everyone, which is the only reason the result means anything.

What if it rains?

The bell doesn't check the weather.

Is there sleep?

In Last One Standing, only what you can steal inside the hour. That is the format's real weapon.

Where can I try it first?

Watch for a free trial run in your city — one loop, a real corral, zero pressure.

EVERYONE ASKS

QUESTIONS, ANSWERED

The backyard, the bell, the DNF — the things every first-timer wants to know before they toe the line.

What happens between loops?

You rest, eat, change socks, question your choices. Your crew can help you — only at the start/finish area, never out on the loop.

What if I finish a loop late?

The loop does not count and your race is over. There is no exception clause — the bell is the same for everyone, which is the only reason the result means anything.

What if it rains?

The bell doesn't check the weather.

Is there sleep?

In Last One Standing, only what you can steal inside the hour. That is the format's real weapon.

Where can I try it first?

Watch for a free trial run in your city — one loop, a real corral, zero pressure.

What is a backyard ultra?

A 6.706 km loop, run every hour on the hour, until one runner remains. No finish line, no fixed distance. The last runner standing is the only finisher — everyone else records a DNF.

Do I need to be an ultrarunner to enter?

No. Backyard 4 is designed as a first ultra. If you can run 6.7 km in an hour, four times, you're in the game.

Where does the 2026–27 season run?

Six chapters: Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai. Same loop distance, same rules, same clock in every city.

How do I register?

Through the chapter page for each city. Registration opens city by city — the community hears the dates first.

What is the Indian backyard record?

52 yards — 52 loops, 52 hours, roughly 348 km — set by Sunil Sharma in October 2024. Ashwini Ganapathi holds the women's mark at 28 yards, set at our Bengaluru chapter.

What happens if I DNF?

You take home the exact number of the loop where you stopped, and a DNF memento. In a backyard, that's not failure — it's the receipt of a real attempt.

Can I walk?

Yes. Walking is strategy, not weakness. Many strong backyard runners walk parts of every loop.