WOMEN’S BACKYARD ULTRA · SEASON 2026-27

THE LAST WOMAN STANDING

One loop. One hour. One bell. A backyard ultra for women, in January 2027.

The format is called last one standing. Here, the one is a woman.

JOIN US
YOU ALREADY KNOW THE FORMAT

YOU HAVE BEEN RUNNING A BACKYARD ALL YOUR LIFE

Every hour, something needs you. You answer it, and you are back before the next bell. Nobody calls it endurance. It is.

  • The 5 a.m. kitchen.
  • The school run.
  • The shift.
  • The call from a parent.
  • The deadline.
  • The second shift at home.
  • The one more thing, at 10 p.m.

India’s own national Time Use Survey (2019) found that women spend about three times as long as men on unpaid household work, every day. A job, a home, a family, a field, a studio: whatever your loop is, you have been running it without a medal, a corral or a chair.

THE FORMAT’S OWN RECORD

WOMEN HAVE WON THIS RACE

Big’s Backyard Ultra, where the format was born, was run for years before a woman won it outright. Then women began to settle the question.

2019Maggie Guterl becomes the first woman to win Big’s Backyard Ultra: 60 yards, 250 miles.
2020Courtney Dauwalter wins the U.S. race with 68 yards, 283.3 miles.
2025Sarah Perry sets the women’s world record at the World Championships: 95 yards.

We are not here to claim women are tougher. We are here to say the start line should look more like the women who already carry this much.

NOT A SMALLER RACE

THE SAME LOOP. THE SAME CLOCK.

Same 6.706 km. Same bell on the hour. Same nine articles, same timing desk, same result sheet. The only thing that changes is who is standing in the corral beside you.

HOW A BACKYARD ULTRA WORKSRUN ONE LOOP AT A FREE TRIAL RUN
WHAT WE KNOW, WHAT COMES NEXT

THE RACE AT A GLANCE

We will not guess the rest. Each line below is filled in the moment it is decided.

WHO
Women, transgender women and non-binary runners, aged 18 and over.
WHEN
January 2027. The date is announced soon.
WHERE
Announced with the date.
THE RACE
A Backyard Ultra: one 6.706 km loop, every hour, on the hour, until one runner is left.
THE SEASON
Part of BigFoot 2026-27, beside the chapters.
ENTRY
Published on the entry page when entries open.
PARTNERS
Canyon Sandals, Salt and UnScripters, our season partners.
BE THE FIRST TO HEAR THE BELL

IT IS TIME TO TAKE THE BACKYARD

Put your email in. When the date is set, you hear it first. Then bring the woman you have been telling to try this.

One email when the date is set, one when entries open. Leave any time.

ASKED EVERY SINGLE TIME

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 woman to finish a loop that no other woman completes.

When is it, and where?

January 2027. The date and the venue are announced soon. Join the list on this page and we send them to you first.

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, transgender women and non-binary runners, aged 18 and over. It is a Backyard Ultra: one loop every hour, until one runner is left.

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?

When entries open, the entry page opens with it, and the details and fees are there. Until then, joining the list on this page is the way to hear first.

EVERYONE ASKS

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 woman to finish a loop that no other woman completes.

When is it, and where?

January 2027. The date and the venue are announced soon. Join the list on this page and we send them to you first.

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, transgender women and non-binary runners, aged 18 and over. It is a Backyard Ultra: one loop every hour, until one runner is left.

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?

When entries open, the entry page opens with it, and the details and fees are there. Until then, joining the list on this page is the way to hear first.

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 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.