Trail Mix | Big Backyard Ultra – the race that has no end – proves running is all in the mind
- Runners have 60 minutes to complete a single 6.7-kilometre loop trail, with race on private Tennessee farm restarting every hour until only one person left
Imagine running a race that has no end.
That is the basic premise of the Big Backyard Ultra, held on a private farm at the heart of theAmerican state of Tennessee. The race has been described as “mentally brutal”, “the world’s most sadistic endurance race” and “the world’s cruellest ultramarathon.”
This is how the race works. Competitors set off every hour and have 60 minutes to complete a single 4.1667-mile (roughly 6.7-kilometre) loop trail. Whatever time they have left over of the hour is theirs to use – resting, using the facilities, eating, and the like. This repeats at each hour until there is only one runner left with the will and energy to go on. In effect, the entire race is a slow-burning war of attrition where all but one person – the champion – drops out.
For some, this lack of a set finish line is an exhausting, torturous test of the mind. The race director, Gary Cantrell (also the mastermind behind the infamous Barkley Marathon), compares it to “being punched in the face – light punches. After a while you just don’t want to get up for it anymore”.