Backyard Ultra Podcast

Lee has really put himself on the Backyard Ultra map this year.  He started 2026 off running a new PB of 35 yards at Sydney's in April and then in August he ran 45 yards at Reds.  Just over a week ago at Sydney's Backyard Ultra Lee ran another PB, this time by running a massive 65 yards and finishing as the Assist.

Alex Sweet was the assist for team UK 2 years ago and is running again this year for the second time.  Jay Stapley is making his UK Team debut after qualifying with a massive LOS of 61 yards at Red On Backyard Ultra.  Dom Halbert has been a long time fan of Backyard Ultras and ran 24 yards in the Sydney Sun at ISSS when he visited Australia in March this year.

Tanner Elmore is a host on The Threshold Podcast where they often talk about Backyard Ultras and interview Backyard Ultra runners.  The Sat Champs begins in a few weeks and Tanner knows a thing or two about team USA so he came on to break down the course, the runners and give some predictions.

Tim Walsh recently made an announcement that shook the Backyard Ultra world.  The news was that Dead Cow Gully and Last Soul Ultra were combining to create a LSU Australia, held at Dead Cow Gully with the race kicking off in June 2027.  Tim came on the podcast to discuss what all this means.

GV Backyard Ultra was run just over a week ago.  One of the standout performances was Kiara Keating running 33 yards, who was making her Backyard Ultra debut.  It was a very impressive backyard ultra debut and broke the female course record.

Last week Phil ran for 152 hours as part of his Project 168 run for Telethon.  It was an absolute treat to have Phil back on the podcast to talk all about one of the most impressive endurance runs of all time.

Adam McDonald was a natural fit as a commentator at Phil Gore's Project168.  He was there from beginning to end capturing moments for the documentary he is making about the project.  Adam is also making his BYU debut at Sydney's Backyard Ultra on the 19th September.  Go Macca!

Yuko has been running Backyard Ultra's since her debut at No Time to Die in 2022 where she ran 15 yards.  Since then she has run a PB at 6 of her BYU's and most recently broke the Australian Women's Backyard Ultra record by running 65 yards at Clint Eastwood Backyard Ultra.

Nikolay is the race organiser of Biotropika Backyard Ultra in Russia.  Biotropika was run a few weeks ago now and is definitely the most controversial race in Backyard Ultra history.  After both the male and female Backyard Ultra world records were broken, the format's creator and decision maker Gary Cantrell announced the entire race as void due to a breach in how the rules were followed.

Phil Gore is the Backyard Ultra World Champion and World Record Holder.  He recently announced that he was running a Backyard Ultra style solo attempt at reaching 168 yards.  Titled PROJECT 168.  Phil came on to talk all about.  Phil's website:  www.philgore.com.au

Alex Cleary is a well known face in the Ultra running world from his work with Hardcore Harrys and involvement in the King of the Hill Livestream.  Alex got his first taste of a Backyard Ultra at MVP earlier this year when he crewed for The Crow.  A few weeks later Alex ran impressively at MelbOURne Frontyard where he ran 38 yards at his Backyard Debut.

Merlin came onto what he thought was going to be a usual chat on the podcast.  He couldn't have been more wrong, with 6 guests dropping in along the way, all with their own special stories about Merlin and his run around Australia.  This podcast was an experience.

Sam finished as the Last One Standing at his BYU debut last year at Gil's Galavant.  He later went on to finish as the assist at Garden City BYU where he ran 42 yards.  Sam opened 2026 with another win at Gil's Galavant and most recently he had a huge breakout performance by running 66 yards and finishing as the Last One Standing at Dead Cow Gully.

Michael ran his first Backyard Ultra in 2024 at BB Backyard and finished as the Last One Standing with 25 yards.  Michael has fallen in love with the format and has improved his PB to 45 yards and in doing so, qualified for the Canadian Team which will be taking on the rest of the world in October at the Sat Champs.

Scott ran his first Backyard at Hysterical Carnage back in 2022 where he completed 15 yards.  Since then Scott has run in four more Backyards, breaking 50 yards for the first time at GV last year and just last week at No Time to Die he finished as the co-assist with Jashy, completing 75 yards and placing himself 6th on the Australian At Large list.

Melbourne Frontyard Ultra was held last weekend and it turned out to be an absolute classic race.  Brady Nankervis played a huge role in the race, he completed 68 yards and broke the Australian record for most yards in a Backyard Ultra Debut.  It was a performance so strong it will most likely qualify Brady to run for Team Australia later this year in the Sat Champs.

Jared Webb had run in 5 Backyard Ultra's where he had broken 24 in all of them and had a PB of 31.  That was till last weekend when Jared ran at Gumby and completed 50 yards to finish as the assist in an amazing performance.

Crazy ran his first Backyard Ultra last year when he ran a solid 33 yards at GV in Shepparton.  Last weekend Crazy ran at Sydney's Backyard Ultra where he ran 74 yards and finished as the assist.  That 74 yards places him as the 9th best Australian of all time and almost guarantees that Crazy will be running for team Australia at the Sat Champs later this year.

Patto is running at 2 Rivers Backyard Ultra on the 11th of April in Echuca.  The Crow and Farms will be crewing for him so the three of them got together to discuss the race plan, tactics and all the fun stuff.

Tammy ran in her first Backyard Ultra in 2025 at Herdys when she ran 25 yards and finished as the Last Female Standing.  A few months later she ran 38 yards at Red's which is a top 10 Australian female performance of all time.  At Herdys recently Tammy was back with another very strong run, completing 30 yards and finishing as the Last Female Standing again for the second year running.

The Stalwart had a great backyard ultra debut in 2025 when he ran 36 yards and finished as the Assist at Wild Dog.  A few months later he had another big run at GV where he ran 37 yards.  Just last weekend Jason had a breakout performance at Herdys Frontyard where he ran 49 yards and finished as the co-assist.

The Warhorse has run in 10 Backyard Ultras and has a PB of 82 yards which he ran for team Australia in 2024.  Last year Warhorse ran at the International BYU World Championships in Big's Backyard for the 2nd time and ran 75 yards which puts him in rare air.  James has done a lot of work on his mindset in recent years and we really focussed our conversation on that side of things.

*UNSCRIPTED* - Nikolay is Director of Biotropika, which is the biggest Backyard Ultra in Russia.  In 5 years, it has grown into a large, family-oriented sports festival and a key development platform for the Backyard format in the country.  Three Russian records have been established on the Biotropika course, including the current Russian record of 106 yards, set by Ivan Zaborskiy.

*UNSCRIPTED* - Ruben made a massive life changing decision in 2022 which steered his life towards running and Backyard Ultra's.  He absolutely loves Backyard Ultra's and ran his first in 2024 at Birdys where he ran his PB of 12 yards.

Jacob and Paul both had epic races when they ran at MVP Backyard Ultra last weekend.  Jacob ran 41 very impressive yards and finished as the Last One Standing while Paul showed that he is tough as an ox with his 40 yards and the assist.

Michael is one of the rising stars on the Australian Backyard Ultra scene.  He ran 32 yards at his first Backyard at Sydney's last year.  He returned with 34 yards at Coffs in June and showed everyone how gritty and tough he is when he finished off the year running 48 yards at Sydneys in September.

Claudine has built winning mindsets for scores of champion ultra runners and Backyard Ultra runners that include James Blanton and Joel Sexton.   Claudine is a 16-time national and international karate champion, with a wildly diverse background. She has worked with thousands of elite performers, teaching them how to build a winning mindset, back themselves, and win.  Claudine is the creator of The Athlete's Ultimate Self-Belief Journal, a 365-day mental training program designed to teach real, authentic and unstoppable self-belief–in just 5 minutes a day. Learn more at www.claudinechi.com/journal 

**UNSCRIPTED** Tim ran his first Backyard Ultra in 2023 when he ran 9 yards at GV.   He has been around the sport ever since, running his PB of 12 yards when he returned to GV in 2024 and then ran at 2 Rivers in Echuca last year.  Tim and Patto teamed up at GV last year with Tim crewing for Patto for the first 24 hours of the race.  All the best at 2 Rivers in April Tim!

*UNSCRIPTED* Michael was absolutely frothing to come on the podcast and talk all things running and Backyards.  Michael has crewed and volunteered at a number of events and offers his own unique perspective on the format.  Michael is planning on making his BYU running debut at Red's later this year.

*BUP UNSCRIPTED* - Jeremy ran his first BYU in 2024 at GV where he completed 28 yards.  He returned to GV in 2025 and ran a new PB of 30 yards.  Jeremy is fired up for a big 2026 and is going to be running at 2 Rivers BYU in April.

Tammy ran the most yards by any woman in Australia in 2025.  She had a huge year, running totals of 27, 35, 31 and 28 yards.  It was over the new year at Glasshouse Standing where Tammy hit two huge milestones, she finished as the Last Female Standing as well as also finishing as the assist.

Dom ran in his first Backyard Ultra in 2021 at Suffolk.  Since then he has run many more, including five this year alone.  In Dom's most recent Backyard Ultra he finished as the Last One Standing and ran a PB of 32 yards in doing so.

Ben Nicholls, Mat Dube and Tim Kacprzak join Patto to review the BYU year of 2025.  They discuss their picks for Race of the Year, Single Best Performance of the Year, Runner of the Year, Best BYU Doco of the year, Runners to watch in 2026, Story of the year and our predictions for 2026.

Simon absolutely loves Backyard Ultra's.  Since 2023 Simon has run in 5 Backyard ultras, three of which were run this year.  He recently broke through 24 the yard barrier at Reds and he is also part of Jashy's all conquering crew.

Stephanie has been running Backyard Ultra's for less than 12 months and she's already proven herself to be a force in the format.  She ran 38 yards at Babbit's BYU in September and most recently completed 67 yards to finish as the Assist at Summit BYU (The Last Dance). That 67 yards ranks Stephanie as the sixth-best woman of all time.

Merlin ran his first Backyard Ultra last year when he ran impressively to complete 30 yards at Wild Dog Backyard Ultra.  Merlin is currently more than halfway through a mission running from the highest tip of Australia in Queensland down to its lowest point in Tasmania.

Ned ran 22 yards in his first Backyard Ultra in 2020 when he ran for team Singapore at the Sat Champs.  Last year Ned finished as the Last One Standing and Singapore national champion which qualified him to run at the recent Individual World Championships at Big's Backyard.  Ned ran the race of his life at Big's, completing an impressive 40 yards and finishing 58th overall.

Jayden ran his first Ultra at The Guzzler 100 in 2022.  He has run The Guzzler every year since and this year he ran it almost 10 hours faster than in 2022!  Jayden also loves Backyards and last year he ran 27 yards in his first BYU at Dead Cow Gully and then he finished as The Last One Standing at Garden City BYU.  He returned to Dead Cow this year and ran a very impressive 50 yards and a few months later he ran all the way from Sydney to Brisbane in 10 days.

Lily Lu is an artist, author and film maker who started her running journey three years ago and has fallen in love with Backyard Ultra's.  So far in 2025 Lily has run in over six Backyards and most recently Lily finished as the Last One Standing at Helvetia Backyard Blitz, completing 25 yards.

Tim Moffatt and Patto dive deep into all the stats behind the Individual Backyard Ultra World Championships in Big's Backyard, Tennessee. 2025.

Last year at the Sat Champs Dan ran 75 gutsy yards for team Australia, which qualified him to run at the Individual Backyard Ultra World Championships at Big's Backyard in Tennessee.  Dan proved that he is among the worlds elite by running 93 yards and placing 11th in the World.

Just over a week ago, the Backyard Ultra Individual World Championships took place at 'Bigs Backyard' in Tennessee, attracting the sport's very best on Earth. Phil Gore, the reigning world record holder, demonstrated his dominance once again, securing the victory in commanding fashion after an incredible 114 hours of endurance.  Phil came on to talk all about it.

**THIS IS A 15 MINUTE TEASER OF JIMMY B + WHITE KENYAN EPISODE 3 - THE FULL 1 HOUR 34 MINUTE VERSION IS AVAILABLE THROUGH BACKYARD ULTRA PODCAST'S PATREON PAGE FOR A SMALL FEE** The Backyard Ultra Individual World Championship at Big's Backyard has concluded, and Jimmy B and White Kenyan are back with their fourth and final episode of the 'Road to Bigs' series. In this installment, they provide an in-depth reflection on their races and experiences throughout the journey.

**THIS IS A 15 MINUTE TEASER OF JIMMY B + WHITE KENYAN EPISODE 3 - THE FULL 1 HOUR 29 MINUTE VERSION IS AVAILABLE THROUGH BACKYARD ULTRA PODCAST'S PATREON PAGE FOR A SMALL FEE** It's race week, Jimmy B + White Kenyan are in Tennessee gearing up for the biggest race of their lives, The Individual Backyard Ultra World Championships at Big's Backyard in Tennessee.

Luke ran his first Backyard Ultra last year at MVP where he completed 12 yards.  Since that first Backyard experience Luke has been focussed on improving at the format and working hard which is paying off.  This year Luke has run at MVP, MelbOURne, Dead Cow Gully and GV, improving each time.  At GV Luke finished with 52 yards and a top 3 performance.  That 52 yards places Luke fourth on the UK At Large list and he is excited and extremely motivated to run on team UK next year.

Patto, Dom Halbert and Ihor Verys preview the Individual Backyard Ultra World Championships 2025.  Including insights about each runner, predictions and more.  The race starts at 7am on the 18th October at Bigs Backyard in Tennessee.

In 2021 Mark ran his first LOS race at WausaUltra Backyard and completed 21 yards.  Mark has fallen in love with the Backyard format and has made huge improvements over the last couple of years.  Mark recently showed what he's made of by finishing as the Last One Standing at 'Last Dot Standing' going for 63 hours.  Making team USA is Mark's dream and you can follow Mark's journey through his youtube channel where he is honest and real.

Mathieu 'Dubes' Dube is one of the OG's of Backyard Ultra's in Australia, breaking 40 yards back in 2022.  This year has definitely been a breakout year for Dubes, breaking 50 for the first time in April and last weekend finishing as the Last One Standing by running 60 yards at GV, earning himself a Silver Ticket onto team Australia.  Peter Clarke has believed in Dubes for a long time and has been at the helm crewing at all of Dubes races for the last 12 months.

**THIS IS A 15 MINUTE TEASER OF JIMMY B + WHITE KENYAN EPISODE 2 - THE FULL 1 HOUR 37 MINUTE VERSION IS AVAILABLE THROUGH BACKYARD ULTRA PODCAST'S PATREON PAGE FOR A SMALL FEE** Welcome to episode 2 of The Jimmy B + White Kenyan: Road to Bigs Podcast. Where we take you behind the scenes of our training and our lives as we prepare for the Backyard Ultra Individual World Championships in Tennessee on October 18th.

Macee is a runner from New Zealand who ran her first Backyard Ultra in May at Best Dam Backyard.  She finished as the Last One Standing with 43 yards, averaging 40 minutes a loop.  Just last weekend Macee ran at Scenic Circles and finished as the Last One Standing again, this time with 38 yards.  Macee hopes to qualify for the New Zealand Sat Champs team next year.

Hendrik is returning to Bigs Backyard next month to run in the Individual Backyard Ultra World Championships after a heartbreaking DNF in 2023.  Last year Hendrik improved his Backyard PB to 82 yards at Suffolk BYU and he also finished as the Last One Standing for Germany at the Sat Champs.