Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra, Australia, June 2023.

Well, well, well. It’s hard to know where to start after the last week. Also it’s the 26th June and Dead Cow started on 17th June! So much for doing a race on Saturday and getting a race report out on Monday

Anyhow, let me try a quick recap:) 17th June was kick-off day for the Aussie Backyard Masters. Basically, get together a group of savages and see how long they can run a 6.7km loop every hour until there’s one person left standing.

Tim Walsh (race director) did a fantastic job of pulling together a lineup of ultra athletes, including the NZ 7 (pictured) and Harvey Lewis - Ultra Runner from America to battle it out with the Aussies. With Harvey having previously run 85 hours before and Aussies Phil Gore and Ryan Crawford having run in the 70s. The stage was set for this to be an absolute banger and go long.

The Kiwi 7 - Fiona Hayvice, Angus Ward, Adam Keen, Helen Waterworth, Shaun Collins, John Bayne and Sam Harvey.

The fuse was lit at 7am Saturday morning, and around 55 runners started on a very cool course on the Walsh’s farm at Dead Cow Gully. 

It's hard not to be excited and even yours truly may have got a little excited, ran a bit quick and tapped out way too early at 28 hours! #noexcuses #winorlearn

Your coach, yes, that’s me, Adam Keen, yes, the guy that tells you to be patient, sit at the back and let the laps roll by, cooked his goose 🤨  In this case do as I say not as I do

Possibly even before I dropped out of the race I think I realised with the ease of the course and the calibre of the runners we were on for something special.

Ultimately after 63 hours (Monday 10pm, remember the race started Saturday 7am) we were down to 3 runners: the legendary American Harvey Lewis, the clinical Aussie Phil Gore and the cocky Kiwi Sam Harvey.

The stage was set, and it was time to buckle up! Lazarus Lake (the brains behind the backyard ultra format) has said that beyond 60-70hours runners seem to become numb to what is happening. And so this is what I saw: the runners seemed to settle into a routine of run the lap, eat, drink, sleep, run the lap…etc. At this stage it seemed that there was no question around their fortitude and their ability to keep going. Providing we helped crew and provide food, hydration and clothing they would manage the loop

And so the final 3 and our crews cracked on. Harvey and Sam worked together tirelessly helping one another on each lap while Phil was usually out front sticking to his plan that was written down weeks in advance, covering each lap in detail out till lap 143 if things got into that mythical territory.

This is what it takes at a backyard ultra; You need everyone along the way. Everyone from hour one plays a role and helps kick the can a little further down the road. Now there were two. And let’s face it they hadn’t spoken a lot to each other and had no doubt had their moments when they had thought: I’m not letting this guy beat me. But now they need each other. For a backyard to keep going you need a minimum of two people, or it's over. And so for what seems like the first time they come together to hunt down the world record.

Again we settle into the routine of each hour helping to keep the final 2 runners going. We are now in the early hours of Wednesday morning, people are wondering about getting back to work, flights have been changed or are being changed. How long will we be out here? Can we live out here permanently, maybe we can, maybe we will need to. I start to wonder if I can make a more permanent residence out of a gazebo.We need to start planning long term. At some point we will need sleep To quote Harvey ‘oh it was gnarly’.

But then once again after the Kiwi contingent/crew Shaun Collins and Sam’s family have joked about our new lives here at Dead Cow Gully, Sam comes in and is starting to battle the cold, a possible chest infection and goodness knows what else after having run 93 hours. Thankfully, he realises his predicament and realises that himself and Phil will need to run together if he is to get through the final hours in the dark. A quick conference ensues between crews and it’s agreed that they will run together and, in our eyes become best mates rather than adversaries for the next few hours. To get the world record, they need each other.

But the race is not over yet and Tim Walsh the race director is concerned that Sam is having trouble with breathing, a possible chest infection and that he may need to withdraw him from the race on medical grounds.

As you can imagine at this stage Shaun Collins and I are doing our best Jordan Belfort impressions (you know the scene from Wolf of Wall St where he’s convincing everyone that taking the super yacht into a storm is no problem) trying to convince Tim that this is normal/this is fine - at 98 hours ‘a bit of chop on the water and a few broken dishes’ - yeah that scene 😂

https://youtu.be/u4ppoDl1K8w?t=35

With a bit of back and forth and some solid race directing from Tim we are back on track. As long as Phil stays with Sam on the loop and we can keep in visual contactthen these two super yachts can keep sailing.

And so for the next 3 hours Sam stays in the game and gets Phil to 101 hours. Sometimes this is what it takes - you collapse, almost get pulled from the race but to enter the unknown you have to keep fighting, you have to break a few plates. Sam fights, the cockiness dissipates, and he has pushed well beyond double his personal best back in NZ of 46 hours when no one really pushed his limits and he was unbeaten. A BEAST and now a hot favourite alongside Phil for the upcoming Big’s Backyard Ultra in America come October - the Ultimate Showdown of running masochists.

Like a script written in advance the world record of 101 hours is equalled with an incredible assist from Sam, and Phil trots around for one more to kick the can to 102 hours. A New World Record.

Hats off to you lads and thanks for taking us along on the ride.