A race with no official end, a Backyard Ultra is a last person standing challenge. A 6.7km run (known as a yard) begins on the hour, every hour. Finish a yard within the 60 minutes and you get to run again. Fail to return within the cut off time or choose not to go out again, and you are eliminated. The race continues until only one person completes a full yard.

To win a Backyard, you must be the only athlete to complete a full yard within the 60 minute cut off. If no one finishes the 'final' lap within the hour, the race has no winner.

The distance was selected with the aim of having athletes cover 100 miles (161km) every 24 hours.

161 / 24 = 6.7km per hour.

Every two years, dozens of countries from all around the world band together to simultaneously host a Backyard event on home soil. Each nation selects 15 of their best long-distance runners to form their National Teams.

The next World Team Championships kick off in October 2024.

For each yard (one 6.7km loop) an individual completes, 1 point is awarded to their country's score. The total sum of all yards run by all 15 athletes by the end of their event, equals the country's overall score. The country with the highest number of yards wins the Championships.

Each athlete has dual motivation to run - both to score points for their country, and to win their race for title of National Champion.

In the 2022 edition, USA took Gold, Belgium bagged Silver and Australia snatched up the Bronze.

The current World Record stands at 108 yards and is held by Harvey Lewis of the USA. He covered a staggering 724.25km/450 miles in four and a half days of non stop running.

The current Maltese record stands at 48 yards and is held by Niki Micallef. The 321.9km performance took place at the Individual BY World Championships in the US in October 2023.

Meet the Maltese Squad:

[1] Claudio Camilleri

[2] Niki Micallef

[3] Anthony Fenech

[4} Patrick Tabone

[5] Mario Agius

[6] Stephanie Smith

[7] Frank Fenech

[8] Robert Formosa

[9] Mark Sciberras

[10] Jason Greenaway

[11] Stephen Sammut Nurminen

[12] Nadia Portelli

[13] Patrice Peyre

[14] Adrian Camilleri

[15] Drew Lang

Head to our Events page to check out our next event.

Yes, you can! The beauty of the Backyard Championship format is that anyone can earn their way into their National Squad.

The top 14 performances (ie, most yards in one event) by any Maltese Citizen or Permanent Resident within the two year qualifying period (Aug 16th, 2022 to Aug 15th, 2024) will earn their way onto the National Team in 2024. The performance can take place in both a local or foreign race, as long as you officially declare you are running for Malta prior to the race, during registration.

The 15th and final position on the team was awarded to the winner of our Endure 2023 event - Mark Bezzina.

For the full rankings, click here.

Go to www.backyardultra.com for all things Backyard, including current World Rankings and events happening worldwide.