SHAKTI. SAMARTHYA. SAMARPAN.
- SHAKTI · POWER. The strength you already have. Shakti is power: the energy that gets things moving. You have been using yours for years without calling it that. It is why this page is red, the colour of shakti in India. Shakti is the first loop. You walk into the corral and the bell rings.
- SAMARTHYA · THE WILL AND THE CAPACITY. Knowing you can, and finding out how. Samarthya is capability: the will to do a thing and the know-how to actually do it. It is the quiet “main kar sakti hoon” (I can do this), before anyone else agrees. Samarthya is loop eight, working out the pace, the food and the head.
- SAMARPAN · COMMITMENT. Showing up, one more time. Samarpan is commitment: giving yourself fully to something. Not a mood, a decision you keep making when it is hard and nobody is clapping. Samarpan is loop twenty-five, still at the start line when the bell rings.
- THE LIMITLESS YOU. Start it. Carry it. Keep at it. India has always had big words for women. Shakti starts it, samarthya carries it, samarpan keeps you at it. Put the three together and you meet the limitless you. That is why BigFoot Adventures India is starting a backyard just for women: to celebrate their endurance.
HOW THE RACE WORKS
- 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.
- 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 a ten-second count. Then the bell.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
THE RACE, IN PLAIN ANSWERS
Is this a real backyard ultra, with real results?
Yes. Same loop, same bell, same rules, same timing desk, same result sheet. Nothing is shortened or softened. The winner is the last one standing: the last woman to finish a loop that no other woman completes.
When is it, and where?
Saturday 9 January 2027, in Pune. The bell rings at 7:00 am.
I have never run an ultra. Can I come?
Yes. A backyard has no distance to pace toward: one loop, then the next, and at every bell you decide whether to go again. A first-timer and a record-holder stand in the same corral and ring the same bell.
Who can enter?
Women aged 21 and over. Under 21 cannot enter. The field is capped at 125 women.
Which categories are there?
One. It is Last One Standing: one loop every hour, until one is left standing. There are no fixed-hours categories.
Is there a cash prize?
Yes. The winner and the assist each take ₹21,000 when the women’s best till date in India is broken.
What does the entry include?
BIB, Hydration, All three meals, from day one until the race ends, Limitless Human T-shirt, Mementos, Live streaming of the race, First aid and ambulance, Doctor on call, Wrist band. Meals are for runners and their crew. Visitors are not covered.
What is the Limitless Human jacket?
Complete 25 loops or more and a Limitless Human jacket is yours. Every runner also receives the Limitless Human T-shirt with the entry.
What does “the limitless you” mean?
The Limitless Humans are the BigFoot community: no rivals, one team, everyone finding their own number. Limitless does not mean you never stop. It means you stop guessing how far you can go. This race is where we find the limitless women. Last One Standing is the format, and women are the field.
What do Shakti, Samarthya and Samarpan mean?
Shakti is power, the strength you already have. Samarthya is capability, the will and the know-how to do a thing. Samarpan is commitment, giving yourself fully to something. They are our three words for this race, and our films come in the same order. Shakti starts it, samarthya carries it, samarpan keeps you at it. Together they are the limitless you.
Why a race for women?
Because the start lines are still mostly men, and because the best way to change that is a corral where every woman in it is racing the same clock. Not a smaller race. The same one.
How do I enter?
Use JOIN US on this page. You make a free BigFoot account first (about two minutes), then the entry form, which has the fee, what your entry carries and the rules. Entries close on 2 January 2027, or when all 125 places are taken.
QUESTIONS, ANSWERED
The backyard, the bell, the DNF — the things every first-timer wants to know before they toe the line.
Is this a real backyard ultra, with real results?
Yes. Same loop, same bell, same rules, same timing desk, same result sheet. Nothing is shortened or softened. The winner is the last one standing: the last woman to finish a loop that no other woman completes.
When is it, and where?
Saturday 9 January 2027, in Pune. The bell rings at 7:00 am.
I have never run an ultra. Can I come?
Yes. A backyard has no distance to pace toward: one loop, then the next, and at every bell you decide whether to go again. A first-timer and a record-holder stand in the same corral and ring the same bell.
Who can enter?
Women aged 21 and over. Under 21 cannot enter. The field is capped at 125 women.
Which categories are there?
One. It is Last One Standing: one loop every hour, until one is left standing. There are no fixed-hours categories.
Is there a cash prize?
Yes. The winner and the assist each take ₹21,000 when the women’s best till date in India is broken.
What does the entry include?
BIB, Hydration, All three meals, from day one until the race ends, Limitless Human T-shirt, Mementos, Live streaming of the race, First aid and ambulance, Doctor on call, Wrist band. Meals are for runners and their crew. Visitors are not covered.
What is the Limitless Human jacket?
Complete 25 loops or more and a Limitless Human jacket is yours. Every runner also receives the Limitless Human T-shirt with the entry.
What does “the limitless you” mean?
The Limitless Humans are the BigFoot community: no rivals, one team, everyone finding their own number. Limitless does not mean you never stop. It means you stop guessing how far you can go. This race is where we find the limitless women. Last One Standing is the format, and women are the field.
What do Shakti, Samarthya and Samarpan mean?
Shakti is power, the strength you already have. Samarthya is capability, the will and the know-how to do a thing. Samarpan is commitment, giving yourself fully to something. They are our three words for this race, and our films come in the same order. Shakti starts it, samarthya carries it, samarpan keeps you at it. Together they are the limitless you.
Why a race for women?
Because the start lines are still mostly men, and because the best way to change that is a corral where every woman in it is racing the same clock. Not a smaller race. The same one.
How do I enter?
Use JOIN US on this page. You make a free BigFoot account first (about two minutes), then the entry form, which has the fee, what your entry carries and the rules. Entries close on 2 January 2027, or when all 125 places are taken.
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 cities, eight chapters: Pune, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Mumbai, plus two more in Pune: Last One Standing, the Women’s Backyard Ultra, and the invite-only Champions Chapter. Same loop distance, same rules, same clock in every chapter.
Is there a backyard ultra only for women?
Yes. Last One Standing, the Women’s Backyard Ultra, is a backyard only for women aged 21 and over: Saturday 9 January 2027, in Pune, 125 places. Same loop, same bell, same rules as every BigFoot backyard. It sits at the top of the RACE menu.
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 at Big's Backyard Ultra in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, in October 2024 — the longest last-one-standing run by any Indian. 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.