‘Sudden death overtime every hour’ – Laz Lake on the rise and rise of Backyard Ultras

He’s best known in the wider world as the man behind the fiendish Barkley Marathons.

But just as significant – far more so in fact in terms of participation – is the Backyard Ultras format that Lazarus Lake – real name Gary Cantrell – also created.

The concept is relatively simple – each lap of the course is 4.167 miles, often referred to as a ‘yard’, and competitors must complete a yard every hour, on the hour.

The race continues until only one runner can complete a yard within the hour, making them the winner, with the last runner to ‘drop’ credited with an ‘assist’. So there is no predefined distance or duration. And the reason for 4.167-mile loops is that equates to 100 miles in 24 hours.

The individual World Championships are held every other year (2025 is the next one) as runners converge on Lake’s backyard in Bell Buckle, Tennessee.

How it started

And the growth – not just in the United States but around the world – has been astonishing.

And Laz has taken time out on his Facebook page, in his own inimitable style, to document the journey from the first event through to there now being individual and team World Championships – and a YouTube channel.

He wrote: “Be your own hero.

“All i started out to do was to make a fun race we could have in our backyard
with limited space and resources.
the rest was serendipity.

“the idea of a 4 miles every hour race came to me as a high school athlete.
but it was 40 years later that i had actually figured out the parameters to bring that idea to fruition.
i just did not know if it would appeal to enough runners for one such event to exist…

“that turned out to be no problem at all.
what germinated from that seed of an idea was a very different kind of running event.
one where everyone was actually on the same team
because for one athlete to do well,
everyone had to do well.
a race with only one winner
developed into a race where everyone could win
just by running the furthest they had ever gone….

“and as it turned out,
the format was perfect for people to cover unexpected distances.
athletes started going not just further than they had ever gone,
but further than they ever dreamed they could go.

How it’s going

“the format spread,
and then spread some more.
i sort of expected our little home-made race here on the big dog’s farm
would be eclipsed by the polished events
with fancy websites.
but a funny thing happened.
the best backyard athletes in the world kept wanting to come here,
where it all began,
and a de facto world championship developed.

“here was a whole new running sport,
and the opportunity of a lifetime.
a chance to develop a sport built around the athletes
and not the organizers.
a chance to set up qualifying where every athlete controlled their own destiny.

“the biggest problem was that every time we scaled up the process
there were more races
and more athletes
and we had to scale it up again!

“the backyard developed its own elite athletes.
not the fastest
not the strongest…

“but the most durable
and the most determined!

“the broadcast of the championships went from an hourly facebook post
to an outright round the clock broadcast
from a few tens of people following the facebook posts
to literally millions of people tuning in every hour.
and why not?
the race is compelling.
sudden death overtime every hour
no one can ever build up a lead!

“and anyone can win.

World Champs later this year

“as we move towards the 2025 individual championships
athletes from 50+ nations
the best backyarders in the world
all meeting on one field to determine the last man on earth
(man being a misnomer, since a woman could well win and has!)
we have added yet something else new….

“a weekly program
to follow the qualifying and preparations for the championships
to highlight the great athletes and great events
to recognize backyarders at every level.

“if you want to be a part of a different sort of sport.
one that everyone can play.
where we believe that;
“not every athlete has the same ability, but every athlete has the same worth.”
be sure to tune in to our you tube channel.

“find the inspiration to go further than you have ever gone
and be your own hero!

“and who knows;
maybe one day you will be lining up in the starting corral here in big’s backyard.
because,
in the backyard everyone has a chance.”

The YouTube channel is here, and we’ll be covering this year’s individual World Championships – which start on Saturday, 18 October – here on RUN247. Team World Championships take place in the intervening years – Belgium won in 2024 and the next will be in 2026.