Michael Wardian on his Quarantine Backyard Ultra win, its controversial ending and his wife’s Spartan mindset
- Michael Wardian runs 6.7km loops for 63 hours to win online race, but could have gone further if a technical malfunction hadn’t end the race
Micheal Wardian was 281km into a race with no end with he came close to quitting, but some tough love from his wife pushed him on for another 141km to claim victory.
“I don’t want to be here any more. I'm not having fun. I'm not digging this. I did some walking,” Wardian said. “I was running a 0.44-mile (709-metre) loop. I got back from that and I told my wife I don’t want to go on any more. She asked, ‘Are you hurt?’ I said no. ‘Well, that's not a good enough excuse.’”
Wardian was in the middle of the Quarantine Backyard Ultra. The race is based on Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra in Tennessee where participants run a 6.7km loop. They have to start the loop every hour, on the hour. They keep going until there is just one runner left. But with lockdowns and restrictions, the race was hosted on Zoom by coaching company Personal Peak. Over 2,000 participants ran different courses around the world, some on treadmills, others doing small laps in their neighbourhoods, some doing laps indoors. The fourth last person standing, Anna Carlsson, was running loops around a frozen lake north of the Arctic Circle.
Wardian, 45, was running loops outside his house in Virginia, with his wife Jennifer manning the home made aid station. He ran for 63 hours, a total of 422km.
“After her tough love I thought, ‘heck yeah, it really isn't a good excuse’, and I ran my second fastest lap,” Wardian said. “If I’m going out I’m going out knowing I gave it my all. It was awesome. That is sometimes all that needs to happen. It was just what I needed – that tough love. It reminds me of the Spartan women who told their husbands, either come back with your shield or come back on it. That’s exactly right.”
