Running an ultra marathon at my birthday party
For my birthday party this year we asked an interesting (many may call it “bescheuert”) question: “How far can we run”?
One of the easiest ways to answer this question is an open-ended last-person standing running event, also known as “backyard ultra”.
Backyard Ultras are the invention of Gary Cantrell, an endurance race designer, and director better known as “Lazarus Lake”. His races are known to be especially grueling. To the extent that the documentary “The Barkley Marathons” gained worldwide recognition. Trail Runner magazine called him an “evil genius”, “The Leonardo da Vinci of pain”, and “A master of sadomasochistic craft.”
In 2011 he came up with a new concept. Competitors must consecutively run the distance of 6.706 kilometers (4.167 mi) in less than one hour, which is a pace of 100 miles per 24 hours. The race is over when only one runner remains to complete a lap.
Simple, yet brutal.
Backyard Ultra Munich recap
When Dommi mentioned he wanted to organize a backyard my first thoughts were “Sounds stupid, I’m in”. After a lack of time in 2023 we found a new date for the event. 09. March, my birthday.
On 09. March, at 9 am sharp 22 runners set off to reach new personal distance records. In 2023 my longest runs were a half marathon and a 25km trail run. The first goal was in sight. Finish four laps.
The weather gods were kind and gave us a perfectly sunny day with peaks around 14 degrees.
After a cheeky birthday song, a quick warmup, and some smoke for the flair the timer went off. Being carbo-loaded up to the nose from kilograms of pasta or rice the evenings prior everyone started hot.
After 1.5km two different strategies showed themselves. The front group pushed on, holding a fast but sustainable pace to get home to base as fast as possible to maximize rest until lap two.
Some other people opted for a “run & walk strategy”, switching between running and walking regularly to finish every lap with minimal energy lost.
Laps one and two were well in the range of my long runs of the prior weeks so everything felt fine. The legs started getting heavier in laps three and four, and I found my personal pacing strategy. Walk even the slightest uphills, run all the downhills, and find a sustainable mix for the rest of the time. At times I felt good enough to eye 50km, the first classic ultrarunning benchmark. However this high was short-lived.
Lap five brought a new pain level and a new pacing strategy “survival mode”: run as long as I can, then walk for a quick recovery. All while trying to hold a pace just sub 8min/km to ensure a quick break for fueling. In lap six I needed the assistance of a nasty hardstyle playlist to summon some inner daemons for energy. I made it back to base in just below 55 min.
There was no chance of finishing another lap, so Phil and I started lap seven only to cut it short after passing the marathon distance.
Personal result: DNF during lap seven, 43km run, an 18km personal distance record.
After seven laps eight runners remained. Amelie and Laura who held the girls' flag up and ran together for the whole race DNFed together after lap 10 and 67km.
Three runners remain.
When it got dark, and everyone was on their way home Matthias DNFed after lap twelve.
Two runners remain. The waiting game began.
The tension in the group chat grew from hour to hour.
9:59 pm update: start of lap 14
11:11 pm (delayed) update: start of lap 15
0:03 am update: Jojo DNF, leaving Dommi for a final lap and the win
0:52 am update: Dommi finished lap 16, winning the race as the only finisher
Final thoughts
Beautiful weather, excited people and brands, many distance PR, and a worthy battle to the finish line. Backyard Ultra Munich Vol. 1 was a huge success.
And while everyone is still hobbling around the question is not if but when Vol. 2 will happen.
Stay tuned!
