Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra World Record Recap 2025

By Adam Keen UltraRunning Coach at AerobicEdge, New Zealand.

Intro

*note this was written just after Dead Cow Gully back in June 2025. 

Well well well! Here we are again, less than a week after Phil Gore sets a new world record and runs 119hours / 798km at the legendary Backyard Ultra in Dead Cow Gully, Australia. What is this madness you may ask? Or you may, like many, just glaze over the fine print and think what are these crazy ultra-runners up to now? But the fine print is rather hectic. So to keep it simple and manageable a Backyard Ultra is like a beep test. Remember that pesky run test you may have done at school or at the gym? You hit the line and a few seconds later there are some beeps, that weird voice 'start of level 3' and you go again until you can't make the beeps in time. Yeah well a backyard ultra is like that except the beeps (or whistles) are a really long time apart, like every f&$king hour! And in-between the whistles you have to run 6.7km. Run the 6.7km in 50 minutes and you get 10 minutes of rest until you have to line back up with everyone for the next lap. Easy as! Lets get into it. 

Background

I was lucky enough to be on the start-line on Saturday 21st June at 7am along with 262 others all trying to see how far we could go. The field was stacked with some of the best backyard runners from around the world. Race Director Tim Walsh did a great job of attracting some of the best including Merijn Geerts, Jennifer Russo, Oriol Antoli, Sam Harvey, Phil Gore, Holly Ranson and Harvey Lewis to name but a few. Quick overview of the rules of the backyard. Call it Satan's Beep test call it a last one standing race, call it a backyard ultra. The rules are simple and the concept has taken off like wildfire there now being 100s of backyard ultras all around the world. Start one up yourself. Get yourself a 6.7km course, a whistle and a starting pen. And you have yourself a race. Blow the whistle on the hour and everyone in the starting pen(or corral) runs 6.7km within the hour and gets themselves back in the corral for the next time you blow the whistle on the hour. Hour after hour until there is one person left. Failure to be in the starting pen on the whistle and you're out. Failure to make the 6.7km distance and you're out. Taking aid/assistance during the lap and you're out. Otherwise do whatever you want, but break one of those rules AND YOU'RE OUT! Any questions? refer to said 3 rules. Last year I was at the home of Lazarus Lake in Tennessee to crew at his race Big's Backyard Ultra. Laz has never missed ringing the bell since he started the race the first ever backyard back in 2011 and last year Big's Backyard went for 108 hours. Imagine ringing that bell and blowing that whistle for 108 hours straight! Legend. As Laz has said you sleep but its 'bits' of sleep. Righto lets get back to Dead Cow Gully and my demise at the 40 hour mark. 

Pretty cool to be a part of this world record the most backyard runners to get to 24 hours, 87 runners. Pic credit @dead_cow_gully

My Demise Hour 40 / 268km

Lets begin. Its the start of lap 40 / 268km and yours truly is about to break a rule and drop out. That being a nice way of saying I'm quitting. I have played the game successfully for 39 hours / 261km. I have done my 6.7km every hour for 39 hours, I have fueled, hydrated, slept and tried my best to be efficient and survive. But I'm tapping out. I have battled for a few laps and struggled to shuffle my way around the course opting for a much more reckless method of walking half the course and then belting the other half with a quick run. Not the most efficient method and not something I can keep up. I look on with envy at Jen Russo who seems to have a much more consistent shuffle than my haphazard on and off again approach. I guess that's years of experience not just in running but in backyards. I mention to her my approach and she replies 'you don't want to do that'. No I don't but oh well it has been fun and despite coming to an end I have felt strong at times and I have run a personal best at the backyard 39 yards. This being 4 more than my previous best of 35 back in 2020 which was enough back in those days to win the NZ Backyard Champs race. I'm a bit knackered but nothing a couple of days rest won't fix. Right now like any good ultra runner I don't like backyards I don't wont to enter races anymore, this sport is dumb. However like any good ultra runner, give me 24 hours and I will forget the endless dark nights, the pain, the hours of thinking 'make yourself vomit, something needs to come out' etc etc and I will be dreaming up my next race, how I can go further, train better and become limitless and free again. But that is all by the by, right now I'm on the sidelines of hour 40 at the race of the century. My race is over and for the 3rd time in two years I find myself with the best seats in the house to watch a backyard ultra epic and most likely world record unfold. 

40 - 77 Hours The Warm Up Laps 

New Womens Record - for NZ Jane McAlpine (centre left) & Australia Holly Ranson (centre right). Pictured with former record holders NZ Julia Chamberlain (far left) & Aussie Narchi Finnila (far right).

This is what I saw and how the next 79 hours played out (note to self if I can figure out how to run another 80 hours FML, I too can be like Phil Gore and run 119hours). By sun up Monday morning the field has narrowed down from 30 to 20 runners with 10 of us having dropped through the night. A core group is left intact and surviving. Some big names including the big 4(all have run over 100 hours previously) - Geerts, Gore, Harvey & Lewis have all gotten through the 48 hour / 321km warm up. For those of you at home, who are still thinking 'these crazy ultra-runners' and not totally sure of these numbers, you're right it is crazy! For 20 people to run 321km in 48 hours is rather incredible even for 'crazy ultra-runners'. There are plenty of 100 mile races and 200 mile races and for the vast majority of runners to get a sub 24 hour 100 miles isn't a thing let alone getting in 200 miles in 48 hours. So to have 20 people is rather amazing and an incredible testament to the format that backyard founder Lazarus Lake has created. 6.7km per hour is to some extent a paint by numbers way to approach this. In traditional races plenty of runners go too hard too soon and cook their goose, in the backyard there really is no advantage to going 'hard' so runners tend to control their effort a lot better. Coupled with this the proven strategy for eating a elephant one bite at a time is already taken care of at the backyard, the 100 miles / 24 hours is already conveniently chopped up into manageable bite size 6.7km/1hour chunks. Hour 52 / 348km creeps along and new female records for Australia & NZ are set by Holly Ranson & Jane McAlpine. Hour 55 and we are down to the lucky 13 runners - Gore, Jimmy B, Ranson, Harvey, Keem, Russo, Michitaro and a few others. Things are trucking along nicely and some strong runners including the big 4 are still in the mix. By Hour 67 / 449km and closing in on 3 days, 10 runners remain. Things are misty, things are wet, the grind is real, but these runners are digging in and hanging tough. The final 10 Runners - 2 Australians, 2 Kiwis, 2 Japanese, 2 Americans, A Spaniard and a Belgium remain. Hiroto Komatsu after a heroic battle times out on lap 76. Lap 77, Jen Russo the last woman standing times out having completed a massive 76 hours / 509km run! A new PB for Jen and the 2nd best performance ever by a woman, incredible stuff. The final 8 runners continue the charge holding on for dear life.

The Kiwi Goat Sam Harvey & the legendary Jen Russo the Last Woman Standing at Dead Cow completing a lap together. 

8 Remain - Roll on the 90s 

In some ways this feels like business as usual. This is the 3rd backyard that I've been to in 2 years that is barrelling towards the 100 hour mark. At the first one Dead Cow Gully 2023 it was hectic, it was exciting, it was new! Now to me it feels like this is normal. Its still exciting, its still mind-blowing and no one knows how this will play out and the reality is anyone could drop at anytime. Myself and others are constantly remarking, that they look so good, so relaxed. And having completed 39 hours myself, having reached a limit on the day, and having battled I know that it is anything but relaxed. These remaining 8 are making it look a lot easier or they are masters of disguise. There are of course signs and cracks starting to appear. Kiwi Simon Mclean drops at 90 having hit the 2nd highest backyard run ever by a Kiwi and smashed his PB by 2 days. The GOAT Harvey Lewis is the next to drop at 92 hours the days and kms having taken a toll. Michataro or 'Bagman' our Japanese folk hero who has carried a bag in his left hand for the whole race drops out at 96 hours. Bagman who myself and a few others encouraged when we found him napping on course in the early days 20-30 hours into the race drops at hours 96, maybe he was fine or just getting warmed up in those early days? Who knows but he has done incredible and punched his ticket for the word champs in October. And lets face it he has set a record for carrying a bag that will never be broken. 

Phil, Oriol, Merijn, Sam, Michitaro, Jonathan, Simon, Jennifer, Hiroto, Harvey. The Final 10 Runners

5 Remain - 100 hours

Five remain and blast through the 100 hour milestone a cool 670km - Gore, Oriol, Geerts, Sam and Ash. Ash who has looked strong is starting to look a bit 'cooked' he's excited no doubt for smashing through such a big total and sometimes that newness is better than having been there before and done that, but the laps are taking there toll. Sam Harvey looks a bit beaten up but that is not unusual for Sam and he knows how to go to the well, is hard to kill and will no doubt stick around. Merijn looks as cool as a cucumber drinking beer and churning through the laps. Oriol looks like the assassin Leon cool, calm and collected. Oriol's dad is also seemingly crewing him solo with the same cool as a cucumber attitude. Tim Walsh has even suggested that we help crew Oriol so his dad can sleep but he is surprisingly not interested and it is 'no problem'. Phil the dialed Aussie...well he looks like he just farking started. Phil set the world record here of 102 in 2023 with Sam Harvey the Kiwi assisting him and doubling his PB in 2023 here to run 101. All in all these guys could all make us stick around for a while yet, or who knows they could all blow to bits in a lap or two. 

Merijn, Phil, Jonathan, Oriol, Sam. 

Beyond 100 - Chaos

Ash, the 2nd Aussie ever to reach the 100s club, is out with a fine innings of 100 and a ticket to Big's Backyard. And then Chaos at the start of Hour 103 All of a sudden! And this is often the case in a Backyard there is nothing happening, and then next lap or next hour or 2 everything has changed. And so it was at the start of 103 we see Oriol get to the corral with seconds to spare for the start. We are not sure why this was he was back in his gazebo so he may have been napping but that happens or he may have issues that held him up (lets face it everyone in a backyard has issues). Merijn has also got to the start of 103 with ice packed into his sock as he battles with a lower leg injury... things are looking shaky. Not long after 103 starts and Oriol has turned back and called it a day and not long after that Merijn is brought back injured! Lap 103 concludes and colour me pink, f$%k me sideways, all of a sudden here we are again a 2023 repeat the final 2 - Sam Harvey vs Phil Gore. And not only that but again Phil looks like he just started and Sam looks like he has taken a beating. We are still a number of hours off the world record of 116 hours, we watch on in disbelief.

Legends Phil Gore & Sam Harvey

Bledisloe Cup all over again Sam v Phil

Here we go again!! Sam who has obviously battled, remarkably hangs tough. 1pm Wednesday we had 4 runners by 1.28pm we are down to two. 2pm Phil runs off the start for the 104th time looking great and Sam shuffles after him all out of shape, looking like he has been running for 103hours / 690km. 7 hours later, 9pm Wednesday and Phil is still running off the line and Sam is still shuffling behind, no change, 2 runners remain. 3am Thursday Phil comes in 41minutes organised and doing the business. 51min Sam hobbles in. Fark this sport...3.59am lap 117 NEW WORLD RECORD 784km! Phil 41minutes, Sam battling 52 minutes, lots of encouragement. Things are starting to blur for everyone, time is starting to melt...people need to get back to work, flights need to be booked...living in the Dead Cow Gully dirt is fun but its Thursday morning and this race started on Saturday...can we go home yet? Patto from the Backyard Ultra Podcast has been seen chasing cattle around the farm trying to interview them for his podcast...things are getting weird...to weird. Start of lap 119. Phil steps up to the start line. Sam staggers his way over. Positive mindset from crew/runners and all in sundry is critical for this type of madness. Regardless of Sam's state, its important to employ a positive or neutral outlook. The whistle goes, Phil jogs off without a care in the world, Sam shakes/convulses his way down the track...not looking great at all and mustering everything he has for each step. In fact it reminds me of Cuba Gooding Jnr in the movie Men of Honour, taking 12 steps on one leg in full dive kit, you know the court room scene with De Niro? yeah that scene. It's a hard watch but Sam has given everything, put up one hell of a fight and once again run enough to get Phil to a NEW WORLD RECORD 119 hours / 1 million kms. Sam gets carted back in after getting a 100 metres or so down the road and grinding to a halt. Phil successfully completes lap 119 in a blistering 32 minutes. Incredible stuff and how good to have a Kiwi and Aussie taking on the world and smashing through records💪 Mindblowing!! 

Men of Honour  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QhCISxbO7rg

Conclusion

Fark this sport. Fark backyards and hopefully one day we wake up, this has all been a bad dream and we can go back to the boring world of fixed distance races all neatly broken up into endless categories where we can all get a medal, win some socks and maintain some ITRA ranking rather than list another DNF next to our name. In all seriousness though the backyard brings out the very best traits. Laz & Sandra have done an amazing job watching over the mad growth of the sport with very little fuss or commercialization  which is incredible really. The Backyard is accessible to everyone whether your a runner, a race director or a community leader wishing to create something that people can get involved in. At DCG a world record may have been set of a mind-blowing number but anyone can get involved in backyards whether its a lap or two, running your first 50km or crewing someone for a day or 2 or 5 the opportunities are endless. The atmosphere and camaraderie built over a few days is something to experience. All the best to the DCG runners and crews over in Tennessee this weekend at the world champs and all the best to Laz, Sandra and crew we will be watching the show unfold. 

Always good to join Harvey on his Mile Streak the day after 

The End