Backyard Ultra Podcast

Dead Cow Gully (Masters) is kicking off this weekend showcasing some of the best Backyard Ultra runners in the world.  Race Mastermind and Director Tim Walsh came on to talk all things backyards and Dead Cow.

Nearly everyone who has run an ultra in Victoria would have met Barry in his sports beer marquee at some point.  In the last couple of years Barry has really taken an interest in running Backyards himself and his results are impressive.  Just recently at 2 Rivers Backyard Ultra Barry ran 31 yards, which at 62 years old is the most yards ever completed in a BYU by someone his age in Australia.

Rose ran her first Backyard Ultra last year at GV where she ran 19 yards.  After GV Rose decided that she really wanted to commit to the BYU format and see how far she could go.  Rose recently ran at 2 Rivers BYU and ran a huge race, completing 30 yards, which makes her only the fourth woman ever to break 30 yards in a BYU in Victoria.

Lukasz grabbed the attention of the Backyard Ultra world last year with his amazing Last One Standing performance at Suffolk BYU where he ran 88 yards.  A few weeks ago Lukasz ran at Legends BYU in Belgium, where he broke the Backyard Ultra WORLD RECORD by running for an incredible 116 yards.

Kendall ran his first Backyard Ultra last year at Sydney's and completed 18 yards.  This year he fronted up to Sydney's again and ran an incredible race to complete 50 yards, making him at 21 years old, the youngest person in the world to break 50.  Kendall's next race is on the 24th May in the USA at Nick Bare's Go One More Ultra.

In 2022 Ben Nicholls and Mat Dube were the first to take a Victorian Backyard Ultra into the 40's.  Last week they were at it again, being the first to run a Victorian Backyard Ultra into the 50's (not including Sat Champs), at Melbourne Frontyard Ultra.

Jashy burst onto the Australian BYU scene last year when he ran 57 yards at Reds to qualify for team Australia.  Since then he has proven himself to be one of the very best Backyard Ultra runners in the world, running 75 yards at the Sat Champs and most recently he finished as the Assist at Sydney's BYU with 80 yards.

Tim is a familiar face in the BYU world through his crewing, running and providing statistical analysis.  Tim was always planning for 2025 to be the year where he focusses on running Backyard Ultras and he started the year in the best possible way, finishing as the Last One Standing at Herdys, smashing his PB in the process and proving himself to be a really exciting runner to watch.

Mitch ran 32 yards in his first Backyard Ultra last year at I'm Still Standing BYU and then 21 yards at Clint Eastwood.  After some fine tuning of his race plan Mitch showcased what he is capable of with an outstanding 40 yard Last One Standing performance at 2025's I'm Still Standing BYU.  

Lizzie ran her first Backyard Ultra in 2021 where she completed 19 yards.  She spent the next three years running many ultra's up to 200 miles till she returned to the Backyard racing world ready to make her mark.  At Rasselbock BYU this year Lizzie finished as the assist running 50 yards, becoming the 21st woman in the world to reach the 50 yard milestone.

Iain Bethune's first Backyard Ultra was at the Cow Shed BYU in 2022 where he ran 27 yards.  Iain and his wife Julie are believed to be the only Husband/Wife duo to have made their countries BYU team when they ran for team UK last year.  Iain recently finished as the Last One Standing at Rasselbock BYU completing 51 yards.  Check out Iain and Julie's blog here: https://www.milestogether.co.uk/

Dave ran his first Backyard Ultra at Andy's BYU in 2021.  He has been consistently improving since then, running 37 yards at Capital and 52 yards at Ohio's.  Notably, he claimed the title of Last One Standing at Queeny BYU, which earned him a spot on Team USA for last year's Sat Champs. There, he delivered an outstanding performance, completing 64 yards and achieving his personal best to date.

Duncan embarked head first into his running journey after discovering the Backyard Ultra format in early 2024 where he crewed for a friend at MVP.  He made his Backyard Ultra debut at MVP this year, completing 26 yards and finishing in the top 5.

Brandon 'The Crow' Lee and Dan 'Farms' Farmer have been running together in the Ardeer Trotters for just over a year now.  Over the last couple of months The Crow and Farms have been training together in preparation for MVP which was run last weekend in extreme conditions.  The Crow finished as the assist with 30 yards and Farms finished third with 27.  

Gaby has been fuelling athletes for 10 years, working with many of the worlds best Backyard Ultra Runners.  It was great being able to have Gaby back on the podcast, where we explored the vital role of nutrition in Backyard Ultras and gained valuable insights from her expertise.

Sean ran his first backyard ultra at Dead Cow Gully back in 2022 when he ran 30 yards.  Since then he has increased his PB to 37 and just recently finished as the Last One Standing at Glasshouse Standing.

Frank was part of the all conquering Belgium Backyard Ultra team that finished on top of the world standings at the World Satellite Team Champs in 2024.  Frank was one of three runners who broke the world record in that race when he, Ivo and Merijn called it a day after running 110 yards.

Tim Kacprzak, Mat Dube and Ben Nicholls join the podcast to relive the Backyard Ultra year that was 2024.

Clayton loves Backyard Ultra's, he's run in three and his best result is currently 25 yards which he ran at I'm Still Standing BYU earlier this year.  Clayton also organises a BYU run club that meets monthly and runs in different locations around Sydney.

Vic has been running ultras since 2017 and ran in her first Backyard Ultra at Rasselbock in 2023 where she completed 30 yards.  Since then Vic has run many more Backyards including a recent 40 yard LOS performance at God's Own BYU.  Vic is also 11 BYU's into her mission of running 12 BYU's in 12 months.

Sarah Perry was the last one standing at the Sat Champs for Team UK when she ran 59 yards, breaking the UK female record. Alex Sweet also had a remarkable race, achieving an 18-yard personal best as the assist.

Viktoria ran 34 yards at her first Backyard Ultra for team Canada at the Sat Champs in 2020.  Since then she has run a PB of 49 yards and ran for the Canadian Sat Champs team again in 2024.  As well as her impressive BYU results Viktoria also holds the Canadian 48hr, 72hr and 6 day ultra running records.

John has outstanding results across all different types of ultra running distances and formats.  His breakout backyard performance was last year when he ran 51 yards at Dead Cow Gully.  Most recently he was team Captain for the 'Flying Kiwis' at the Sat Champs and ran a new PB of 72 yards as the assist.

Phil is undoubtably one of the very best Backyard Ultra runners in the world.  Last year he broke the 100 yard barrier twice including when he ran a world record 102 at the Dead Cow Gully Masters.  Phil recently ran for team Australia at the Satellite Team World Championships finishing as the Last One Standing with 96 yards and helped guide Australia into second place in the World standings.

Scott's been running Backyard Ultra's since 2021 and has proven himself to be one of the toughest and most consistent runners out there.  He recently took things to another level  finishing as the Last One Standing when he ran 88 yards for team USA at the World Team Championships at Bigs taking home the coveted golden 'Big Dogs' coin.

The Team Backyard Ultra World Champs concluded just over a week ago so Tim Moffatt from Backyardstats came on to discuss the results, crunch the numbers and analyse the stats.  Check out Tim's website backyardstats.com

Ross McLean has been a consistently good Backyard Ultra runner since his first run at MVP back in 2022.  He's consistenly improving and was LOS at MVP in 2023, ran 35 Yards at The DCG Masters, 15 yards at Mirrim Wurnit in hellish conditions and most recently he ran in Sydney's BYU and finished as the Last One Standing with a total of 55 yards.

Tim Moffatt from Backyardstats and Dom Halbert join the podcast to preview the World Team Championship (Sat Champs) that starts this Saturday.

Stephen Parker is the author of 'There is no Finish - A Backyard Ultra Story'.  Stephen dives deep into the Backyard Ultra scene, exploring is amazing history, characters and races.  'There is no Finish' will be released on October the 12th, 2024.  For more information, including the book launch check out runningforever.au

With the Satellite World Championships just around the corner it's time to talk all about the Team Australia.  Race Director from Ultra Series Shaun Kaesler and Australian Record Holder Phil Gore came on to discuss everything to do with what's going down in the Aussie team.

Mat ran his first Backyard Ultra back in 2021 when he ran 32 yards at MVP and backed up the next year running 40 yards as the assist in an epic race behind Ben Nicholls.  Since then Mat has ran for team Australia at the 2022 Satellite World Champs and most recently he finished as the Last One Standing at GV BYU for an incredible third year in a row.

Brent Ford, from Peak2Soon Podcast came on to host this episode and interview Patto, who had a lot to get off his chest after his 38 yards and assist at GV BYU on the weekend.

Ryan ran his first Backyard Ultra in 2017 at his local race 'Last Man Standing Ultramarathon' where he ran 19 yards as the assist.  Since then Ryan has finished as the Last One Standing for the last two years at his local BYU, and earlier this year he ran 64 yards at the Suguaro Showdown which qualified him to run for team USA at the Satellite World Champs next month at Bigs.

So far in 2024 Dan has finished as the assist at Mirrim Wurnit and ran 40 yards at No Time To Die.  Dan's biggest race will be in October, when he will be joining team Australia at the Satellite World Champs in Perth which he qualified for by running 51 yards at Herdys last year.

Narchi started running Backyard Ultra's last year when she debut'd at Clint Eastwood by running an impressive 34 yards and finishing as the first placed female.  This year Narchi has run at Dead Cow Gully and most recently at Clint Eastwood again, where she smashed her PB and broke the Australian female record in the process by going for 51 hours.

Chris ran an amazing race at Birdys last year, running 33 yards while completing a piece of artwork between loops.  Just over a week ago Chris ran at Birdys again and this time finished as the Last One Standing, earning a silver ticket onto the Australian team to run at the Satellite World Champs in October.

Jono ran his first Backyard Ultra just over 12 months ago when he ran 28 yards at Red's.  Since then he has gone from strength to strength, finishing as the Last One Standing at Sydney's BYU as well as Coffs Harbour.  His most recent result is the most impressive though when he returned to Red's and ran 57 yards which qualified him to run for team Australia at the Satellite World Champs in October.

Last year Helen broke 24 hours in three Backyard Ultras, including her PB of 31 yards at Arrowtown.  This year Helen and her Partner Chris have organised their first Backyard Ultra (Kings BYU) and in a couple of weeks Helen will be running at Clint Eastwood.  Helen and Chris also run an event kit hire business that caters for runners at Backyard Ultras https://hisandhersevents.co.nz/

Ben ran 28 yards in Australia's first ever Backyard Ultra back in 2019 at Mirrim Wurnit.  Since then he has finished as the Last One Standing at MVP, Backyard Blister and most recently at GUMBY, which earned him a Silver Ticket into the 2024 Australian Satellite World Champs team which he also represented in 2022.

Anthony ran 11 yards in his first Backyard Ultra at Riverhead Relaps in 2021.  Since then he has ran in four more Backyards and improved each and every time.  His most recent BYU was at Kings Backyard Ultra where he ran finished as the Last One Standing by running 52 yards, breaking the New Zealand soil record and qualifying to run for team New Zealand at the Sat Champs in October.

Sam Harvey is right up there with the very best Backyard Ultra runners on Earth.  Last year at The DCG Masters he ran 101 yards as the assist and then ran 91 yards 3 months later at the World Champs at Bigs to finish ninth in the World.  So far in 2024 he has finished as the Last One Standing at Dead Cow Gully running 69 yards and just last weekend at Krazies he finished as the Last One Standing for the third year in a row.

Last year, Brandon dipped his toes into the world of Backyard Ultras at the Shepparton 'GV BYU', where he successfully completed 32 yards. Building on this experience, he recently participated at the Wild Dog Backyard Ultra, finishing an impressive 4th overall and completing 37 laps. Coming up in August, Brandon has a significant challenge ahead, as he prepares to run from Bondi to Melbourne to raise funds and awareness for Osteosarcoma Bone Cancer.

Levi ran 37 yards in his first Backyard Ultra in 2022 when he was the Last One Standing at Bob's Big Timber Backyard.  He has run five Backyard Ultra's since, including the Individual World Champs at Bigs last year.  Levi most recently finished as the Last One Standing at Capital BYU running 65 yards.  His run at Capital cemented his spot to run for team USA at the Sat Champs in October later this year.

Next weekend, the Red Dirt Backyard Ultra will be held for the first time in Karratha, Western Australia, as a Bigs affiliated event. Jamie Oborne, a local Karratha resident and experienced ultra runner, will be participating in the event. Jacs Homann, one of the Race Directors, has played a key role in organising the race. The Red Dirt Backyard Ultra will also mark the return of Phil Gore, who will be running his first BYU since Bigs last year.

Ryan Crawford is one of Australia's best and most experienced Backyard Ultra Runners.  In 2023 his best result was when he ran 60 yards at Clint Eastwood finishing with James Blanton and he was also the LOS at DCG and Glasshouse Standing.  Most recently he ran at Dead Cow Gully where he was the assist when he ran for 68 yards.  

2024 is the year of the Backyard Ultra for Paul.  So far this year Paul has already run in three Backyards Ultras, MVP, Herdys and Dead Cow Gully.  Not only that, Paul is also the mastermind behind 'Wild Dog BYU' which will be kicking off for the first time on the 21st June.

Stephen is the creator & host of the youtube channel 'Film My Run', which is a great resource for all things running.  This Saturday Suffolk Backyard Ultra begins, featuring some of Europes best ultra runners.  Stephen will be there from beginning to end hosting the livestream which can be viewed here: www.youtube.com/@FilmMyRun

Megan ran in her first Backyard Ultra in January at Saguaro Showdown and proved herself to be a natural at the format.  Not only did she finish as the Last One Standing, but she also earned a Silver Ticket on to team USA to run at Satellite World Championships in October.  Her 65 yard performance at Seguaro Showdown is the fourth highest total by a woman of all time.

In June last year Dead Cow Gully found itself the talk of the Backyard Ultra World when Phil Gore ran a world record 102 yards.  It's exciting to see the return of Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra on the 4th May and race director Tim Walsh came on to talk all about it.

Aaron is going from strength to strength as an endurance athlete and BYU runner.  Last year he came 18th in the World at the Backyard Ultra World Championships at Bigs when he ran for 75 yards.  Aaron has a big 2024 planned and started recently with a win in the Delirious West 200 miler.

Johan ran his first Backyard ultra at Hysterical Carnage in 2021.  He has run in five backyards since and was the assist in his last two.  Johan's most recent race was at Herdys where he ran a PB of 52 yards which earned him a place on the Australian At-Large list.