Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra: record smashed as Harvey Lewis runs for 85 hours in Tennessee
- ‘Race with no end’ sees American Lewis add four hours to previous benchmark set at Suffolk Backyard Ultra in June 2021
- Three runners make it to 80-hour mark, as event returns to Tennessee after online race in 2020 amid Covid-19 restrictions
Harvey Lewis secured victory in the Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra in Tennessee on Tuesday, lasting a record 85 hours and covering 569 kilometres at the “race that never ends”.
In Backyard Ultra races, runners have one hour to complete a 6.7km loop, but they must start their next loop exactly on the next hour, and the competition keeps going until just one runner is left.
Once the second-last runner drops out, the winner has to complete one final loop to claim victory, but is not allowed to do any more after that. The event has proliferated, and now there are backyard races around the world, with competitors in Tennessee having to be invited or qualify via a local event.
There were 35 runners on the first loop at Big Dog’s, and just two made it past 80 hours – Americans Lewis, 45, and Chris Roberts, 35. Terumichi Morishita, 41, from Japan, ran 80 hours, while the next best effort this year was 62 hours.
The previous record was 81 hours, set by John Stocker at the Suffolk Backyard Ultra in June 2021. Last year, Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra was held as simultaneous local events worldwide, as runners across the globe competed via a live stream because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Backyard Ultra was designed by Gary Cantrell, known as “Lazarus ‘Laz’ Lake”. He is also known for the gruelling Barkley Marathon, the 160km race which often goes years without a single finisher.