Southern Tour Ultra: Last Man Standing (2022)

How do you properly race a backyard ultra?

I know I didn't have the answer to that question leading up to my first attempt at this intriguing race format.

But let's start by defining what a "backyard ultra" is. According to backyardultra.com, "Backyard ultra is a form of ultramarathon race where competitors must consecutively run the distance of 6706 meters (4.167 miles) in less than one hour. When each lap is completed, the remaining time within the hour is typically used to recover for the next hour's race."

This type of race was created and made popular by the one and only Gary Cantrell, better known as "Lazarus 'Laz' Lake"—the Barkley Marathons' creator.

Alright, so now that we're all on the same page here, I decided to sign up for one of these things for some silly reason. I chose the 2022 Southern Tour Ultra: Last Man Standing.

The race was scheduled to start at 1:00 PM ET on Thursday, January 20th, but a nasty winter storm was moving in that posed some interesting variables to consider. Regardless, the race director (Tom Clifford) decided to move forward with the race as planned, and I think I speak for all the runners that still chose to show up when I say that we were grateful.

So there we all were on race day. Well, not all of us. Originally there were 27 or so registered to do this thing, but by the time we were ready to start, only 13 had shown up.

13 crazies.

I was lucky enough to share some space in my friend Jaron's tent, which was our aid station for the duration of our races. And although I traveled to this race solo, his friend Chris was there to crew him, but also made it clear that he'd be more than happy to help crew me as well (thank you, Chris!).

We were all set, anxiously awaiting the countdown to the first lap, which crept up quickly on us.

When the "3….2……1….Go!" happened, it was a different vibe from any other race I've been at. 13 of us jogging or walking out of the main event tent, with no need for speed or a fast start.

Here's the thing with a Backyard Ultra—you want to pace yourself slow enough so that you're not wasting too much energy and getting back to the start/finish with too much time (to avoid cooling down, cramping up, etc.). But you don't want to go too slow either, not leaving yourself enough time to get aid and take care of whatever's needed in between laps.

It's a very delicate balance and one that gets progressively more difficult as the hours go on and your exhaustion increases.

So that's how a lot of our laps felt during the first couple of hours—easy and strange.

The course was a simple out-and-back on a sandy, somewhat hilly, dirt road that weaved through some dense forest. As you can imagine, the out-and-back aspect became a mental obstacle as time went on. But, the benefit to this course was that we all had the opportunity to pass each other as we made our way to the turnaround point and back to the start/finish. This allowed us to give each other encouragement and gave us insight into who was struggling and who had decided to drop out whenever that occurred.

I don't want to bore you with all the redundant details and nuances of the race, so I'll break it up into 3 phases, basically how it all played out in my head.

PHASE 1: 1:00 PM THURSDAY - 9:00 PM THURSDAY

During Phase 1, I was approaching each lap with care, sticking to my nutrition plan without missing a beat. I had great conversations with quite a few of the other runners and enjoyed the atmosphere. The weather was comfortable for most of this Phase until about 8:00 PM when it was already dark, and the rain began moving in. That's when the temperature started to drop, and we moved into Phase 2.

PHASE 2: 9:00PM THURSDAY - 5:00AM FRIDAY

Phase 2 was awesome. Honestly. The weather was nasty, people were struggling—yet I was having a blast. I felt like I could go on forever, and when I started sensing weakness in some of the others, I made sure to exude confidence and energy. I was initially worried about becoming too cold out there, as that's been a problem for me in the past, but I think I finally cracked the code for staying just warm enough. Also, my wife bought me hand warmers, which I'd never used until this race. GAME CHANGER. No cold hands for this guy. During Phase 2, many runners dropped, and I believe we were down to only 4 or 5 runners left by 5:00 AM on Friday. This brings us into Phase 3.

PHASE 3: 5:00AM FRIDAY - 9:00AM FRIDAY

Phase 3 sucked. It did. I was dealing with pains that I thought would pass. My mind was not thinking as clearly as I wanted it to be. All the food that I had brought no longer looked appealing or appetizing. I was tired of being cold. I wanted the others to quit because I wanted to win. I wanted to quit. As the sun came up and we removed our headlamps after 12 hours of darkness, I thought my mood would improve, and I'd begin to feel energized again. I did, but it was very short-lived. We made it back to the start/finish at 7:00 AM, and now we were down to 2 runners: Jeremy Reynolds and myself. Jeremy and I went out for our next lap and had a friendly conversation, but I already knew it. I knew he was going to take the win. Not because I wanted to quit so bad, but because I could see how well prepared he was. And honestly, I was inspired. We went out for one more lap after that one, and I decided on that lap that it would be my final. I was hurting real bad, and I was no longer interested in being out there.

After 20 hours and 85+ miles of running, I had enough.

I dropped out at 9:00 AM on Friday, and Jeremy had to go out for one more lap solo to solidify the win, which he did with no problem. I stayed to watch him finish, congratulated him, and thanked Tom again for putting on an awesome event.

So, I started this with a question, "How do you properly race a backyard ultra?"

After having gone through one, here's what I think the answer is: by slowing down, staying focused, thinking long-term, adapting your strategy as variables are presented, and remaining positive.

These are all helpful lessons, not only in ultramarathoning but also in life.

Lessons that I'm constantly in need of remembering.

That's why I keep doing these things.

And that's while I'll be back.