UK Backyard Ultras: Full 2026/27 List, Rules and Records

Written by James Frost, founder of Flaming Phoenix. Updated October 2026; race list last checked on 19 October 2026.

The UK now hosts more than 50 backyard ultras a year, and the next three are Among The Pines in Gisburn Forest (24 October 2026), Red On at Haydock Park (30 October 2026) and Endure The Moor in Newcastle (31 October 2026). Each uses the same format: a 6.706 km (4.167 mile) loop started every hour, on the hour, until one runner is left.

Below are the next races in date order, then every UK backyard by region with its 2026 or 2027 date, start time and climb per lap, the rules, the pacing maths, the Team UK pathway and the British records. I checked each race against its organiser's site or its entry on the official Big's Backyard Ultra race listing, and removed any I could not confirm.

When is the next backyard ultra in the UK?

The next UK backyard ultra is Among The Pines in Gisburn Forest, Lancashire, on Saturday 24 October 2026, followed by ten more before the end of March 2027:

• Among The Pines, Gisburn Forest, Lancashire: Saturday 24 October 2026, noon start.
• Red On Backyard Ultra: Haydock, Haydock Park Racecourse, Newton-le-Willows: Friday 30 October 2026, noon.
• Endure The Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne: Saturday 31 October 2026, noon.
• Golspie Backyard Ultra, Dunrobin Castle grounds, Sutherland: Saturday 7 November 2026, 10am.
• God's Own Backyard Ultra (autumn), Leeds: Saturday 14 November 2026, 8am.
• Kent Backyard Ultra: Dover, Great Farthingloe Farm: Saturday 9 January 2027, 9am.
• Longbridge 100 (winter), near Litlington, East Sussex: Friday 22 January 2027, 6pm.
• Trails and Tarmac (winter), Crickhowell, Powys: Saturday 6 February 2027, capped at 12 hours.
• Burgh Backyard Ultra, Dalkeith, near Edinburgh: Saturday 20 March 2027, noon.
• Rasselbock: Sherwood Pines, Nottinghamshire, and Beacon Hill Backyard, Leicestershire: both Saturday 27 March 2027, 10am.

How does a backyard ultra work?

A backyard ultra is a race with no finish line: everyone runs a 6.706 km (4.167 mile) loop every hour, on the hour, until only one person completes a lap alone. The loop length is chosen so that 24 laps make exactly 100 miles in 24 hours.

The format was created by Gary "Lazarus Lake" Cantrell, the man behind the Barkley Marathons, and first run in 2011 as Big's Backyard Ultra on his land in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, named after his dog. UK events use the same core rules. Each lap starts on the hour, with warnings three, two and one minute before the bell. You must be in the start corral when the bell goes; start late and you are out, and fail to finish the loop inside the hour and you are out. No aid is allowed on the loop, only in the corral or your pit between laps, so any trail running food you want mid-lap has to be carried. The official rules also ban poles and other artificial aids.

Walking is allowed, but 4.167 miles in 60 minutes means averaging under 14 minutes 24 seconds a mile with no rest at all, so almost everyone runs part of every lap.

The race ends when one runner completes a lap that nobody else finishes. That person is the winner and the only official finisher; everyone else, however many laps they ran, is recorded as a DNF, and the last runner to drop is the "assist". If the final runners all fail the same lap, there is no winner, which is why the format rewards patience over bravado.

Several UK events switch to a separate night loop, often on tarmac, for safety and speed in the dark: God's Own, Putney, Kinloss and the Kent races at Vigo and Dover all list one. Some start on a Friday evening so runners meet the night while fresh (Vigo and Bedgebury in Kent at 9pm, Kinloss at 7pm, Longbridge at 6pm). A few events are capped rather than open-ended: Trails and Tarmac in Wales runs as a 12-hour backyard, and Suffolk and Thetford sell 6-hour and 12-hour entries alongside the full race. I have marked those below.

Every backyard ultra in the UK for 2026 and 2027, by region

These are all the UK backyard ultras I could confirm on 19 October 2026, with the date of each race's next edition and the year it applies to. Climb is per lap, taken from each organiser's entry on the official Big's Backyard Ultra race listing (converted from feet and rounded) or from the organiser's own site; start times are local. Prices are given only where the organiser publishes them. Dates move, so confirm with the organiser before you book travel.

London and the South East

• Putney Loop Backyard Ultra, Winchester House, Putney, London: Saturday 2 October 2027, 11am; about 8 m of climb per lap along the Thames, with a separate night loop. Not for profit: the minimum £28 entry goes to the Glass Door homeless charity.
• London Backyard Ultra, Frylands Wood Scout Outdoor Centre (Backyard Ultra UK): Saturday 28 August 2027, noon; about 116 m per lap; tickets on sale from 1 November 2026.
• Brighton Backyard Ultra, Stanmer Park Nature Reserve (Backyard Ultra UK): Saturday 8 May 2027, noon; about 146 m per lap; tickets on sale from 1 November 2026.
• Kent Backyard Ultra series (Hellfire Events): Dover at Great Farthingloe Farm, Saturday 9 January 2027, 9am, about 131 m per lap; Sholden near Deal, Saturday 10 April 2027, 9am, about 8 m per lap; Bedgebury National Pine Forest, Friday 16 July 2027, 9pm, about 87 m per lap. Vigo ran on 16 October 2026 and had no 2027 date yet.
• Longbridge 100, Longbridge Barn near Litlington, East Sussex (3WordRuns): winter edition Friday 22 January 2027, 6pm, £130, 60 places, 180 m per lap; summer edition Friday 18 June 2027, 6pm, £140, 65 places, 190 m per lap.
• Blended's Backyard, near Alresford, Hampshire (Blended Trails): Saturday 5 June 2027, 10am; about 120 m per lap.

East of England

• Suffolk Backyard Ultra Festival, High Lodge, Thetford Forest (Challenge Running): Saturday 5 June 2027, noon; about 15 m per lap; 6-hour and 12-hour entries available. The course record is 88 laps, set by Łukasz Wróbel in 2024.
• Thetford Backyard Ultra Festival, same venue: Saturday 11 September 2027, noon; about 30 m per lap.
• Gosfield Backyard Ultra, Gosfield, Essex (Top Day Events): Saturday 28 August 2027, 9am; about 29 m per lap.
• Summit Mentality Backyard Ultra, South Weald Cricket Club, Brentwood, Essex: last run on Friday 18 September 2026 (£90); no 2027 date published yet.
• Loop Til You Drop, Turvey House, Bedfordshire (Polka Dot Events): Saturday 9 October 2027, 9am; about 25 m per lap.

Midlands

• Greendale (GPC) Backyard Ultra, Greendale Performance Centre, Manor Farm, Chilcote, near Swadlincote: the 2026 race started at noon on Friday 25 September 2026, and no 2027 date was on the organiser's page yet. It is run self-sufficient, with a 3 m by 3 m pitch and up to two crew per runner.
• Rasselbock Backyard Ultra: Sherwood Pines, Nottinghamshire: Saturday 27 March 2027, 10am; about 70 m per lap; £115, already sold out with a waiting list. Course record 51 laps (2025).
• Rasselbock Backyard Ultra: Stapleford Hall, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire: Saturday 3 July 2027, 10am; about 46 m per lap; listed capacity 700 and Rasselbock's biggest, flattest venue; £105 for the first 100 entries, then £119.
• Rasselbock Backyard Ultra: Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire: Saturday 11 September 2027; about 69 m per lap; £119.
• Beacon Hill Backyard, near Loughborough, Leicestershire (Beacon Race Events): Saturday 27 March 2027, 10am; about 180 m per lap.
• Loop Til You Drop: Marston, near Market Harborough (Polka Dot Events): Saturday 17 April 2027, 9am; gravel path and field.
• Yellow Belly Backyard Ultra, near Louth, Lincolnshire: Saturday 22 May 2027, 8am; about 116 m per lap.
• DNF X FCF Backyard Ultra, near Stafford (DNF Club): Friday 4 June 2027, noon.

South West

• Portland Pig Backyard Ultra, Isle of Portland, Dorset (Bustinskin Events): Friday 30 April 2027, noon; about 98 m per lap. A silver-ticket race in the 2026 cycle, won by Phil Marshall with 46 laps.
• Bristol Backyard Ultra (Gravel and Grit Events): Saturday 1 May 2027, 10am; about 122 m per lap.
• Red On Backyard Ultra, Cheltenham Racecourse: Friday 21 May 2027, noon. Jay Stapley won the May 2026 Red On race with 61 laps.
• Breakheart Backyard Ultra, near Dursley, Gloucestershire (Gert Lush Events): Saturday 12 June 2027, 9am; about 173 m per lap.
• Devon and Cornwall Backyard Ultra, Newnham Park, Plymouth: Saturday 28 August 2027, 9am; about 140 m per lap.
• Cornwall's Backyard Ultra, St Eval, near Bedruthan Steps (Grit Culture): last run on Saturday 3 October 2026; no 2027 date published yet.

Wales

• Medieval Backyard Ultra, Cosmeston Medieval Village, Penarth (Gert Lush Events): Saturday 24 April 2027, 10am; about 52 m per lap; £95 standard entry.
• Kip's Backyard Ultra, Denbigh: Saturday 10 April 2027, 8am.
• Trails and Tarmac, Crickhowell, Powys (Limitless Trails): winter edition Saturday 6 February 2027, summer edition Saturday 18 September 2027; about 91 m per lap. The organiser lists both as 12-hour backyards, so they end after 12 laps at most.

North West and Cumbria

• Among The Pines, Gisburn Forest, Lancashire (Moar Events): Saturday 24 October 2026, noon; an all-trail loop on fire roads, fields and forest paths.
• Red On Backyard Ultra: Haydock, Haydock Park Racecourse, Newton-le-Willows: Friday 30 October 2026, noon; a flat two-loop course around the racecourse.
• Beartown Backyard Ultra, Astbury Mere, Congleton, Cheshire: Saturday 1 May 2027, 2pm; close to flat.
• Resolute Backyard Ultra, Delamere Forest, Cheshire: Saturday 8 May 2027, 10am; about 71 m per lap.
• Manchester Backyard Ultra, Giants Seat Scout Camp (Backyard Ultra UK): Saturday 12 June 2027, noon; about 46 m per lap; sold out, waiting list only.
• Wirral Backyard Ultra, Wirral Country Park (Backyard Ultra UK): Saturday 24 July 2027; about 12 m per lap; tickets on sale from 1 November 2026.
• Scouts Honour Backyard Ultra, Worsley (Moar Events): Saturday 31 July 2027, noon; about 20 m per lap.
• The District Back Yard Ultra, Maughanby Farm, Little Salkeld, near Penrith (Heart and Soul Racing): Saturday 2 October 2027, 10am; £110. The organiser warns there is a hill but calls the loop highly runnable.

Yorkshire and the North East

• Endure The Moor, Newcastle upon Tyne (Zone 5 Events): Saturday 31 October 2026, noon; about 36 m per lap.
• God's Own Backyard Ultra, Leeds: autumn edition Saturday 14 November 2026 and spring edition Saturday 29 May 2027, both 8am; about 91 m per lap, with a separate night loop. The spring 2026 race was a silver-ticket event, won by Andrew Miles with 58 laps.
• LSD Back Yard Ultra, near Morpeth, Northumberland (Heart and Soul Racing): Saturday 10 April 2027, 11am; about 102 m per lap; £110.
• The Sting, Richmond, North Yorkshire (Team Caterpillar): Saturday 10 July 2027, noon; the organiser gives 302 ft (about 92 m) of climb per lap; £98 for UK Athletics members, £100 for everyone else.
• The Turbine Backyard Ultra, County Durham (Greener Miles Running): Saturday 18 September 2027, 10am; about 122 m per lap.

Scotland

• Golspie Backyard Ultra, Dunrobin Castle grounds, Sutherland: Saturday 7 November 2026, 10am; about 79 m per lap; £60, supporting Assynt Mountain Rescue and Highland and Island Blood Bikes. The most northerly race on this list outside Orkney.
• Burgh Backyard Ultra, Dalkeith, near Edinburgh (Momentm Events): Saturday 20 March 2027, noon; £115 general entry.
• Beecraigs Backyard Ultra, Linlithgow, West Lothian (Run Smile Inspire): Saturday 24 April 2027, 11am; about 150 m per lap.
• The Highlander Backyard, Murthly Castle, Perthshire (Run Ya Rocket): Saturday 17 July 2027, noon; about 52 m per lap. It doubles as the Scottish Championship and was a silver-ticket race in 2026, won by Alex Sweet with 44 laps.
• Kinloss Backyard Ultra, Moray, part of the Kinloss Running Festival: Friday 27 August 2027, 7pm; about 6 m per lap, with a separate night loop.
• Orkney Islands Backyard Ultra: ran in July 2026 (course record 31 laps); no 2027 date on the official listing yet.

Northern Ireland. The one backyard I could confirm is the Last One Standing at Florence Court in County Fermanagh, which ran in June 2026 and counted towards Team UK selection: Iain Bethune's 64 laps there put him third on the 2026 list. No 2027 date was on the official listing when I checked, so most Northern Irish runners still travel to Scotland or the north of England.

Isle of Man and Jersey (Crown Dependencies, not part of the UK, but listed with it): the Backyard Ultra Isle of Man near Peel runs on Friday 1 October 2027 at noon (the 2026 entry was £105), and Run Jersey's Last Crapaud Crawling runs on Saturday 18 September 2027 at 8am with about 67 m per lap.

Taken off this list in October 2026 because I could not confirm a future edition on an organiser page or the official listing: The Endless Garden, She Strides, the Tockington Manor backyard and the Lone Wolf last-one-standing events.

Which backyard ultra should you choose first?

Choose your first backyard ultra by climb per lap first, then start time, then field size, because climb decides how much rest you get each hour.

A loop with under 40 m of climb makes 24 laps a realistic first target, because you can run 11-minute miles and still sit down: Kinloss (6 m), Putney and Sholden (8 m), Wirral (12 m), Suffolk (15 m), Scouts Honour (20 m), Turvey (25 m), Gosfield (29 m), Thetford (30 m) and Endure The Moor (36 m) all qualify. At 150 m or more (Longbridge 100, Beacon Hill, Breakheart, Beecraigs) every lap is closer to a short hill race. If you want a taste without the open-ended commitment, the 6-hour and 12-hour entries at Suffolk and Thetford, or the 12-hour Trails and Tarmac races, give you the rhythm of the bell with a fixed end.

A Saturday noon start is the classic format. A Friday-night start (Kent, Kinloss, Longbridge) gets the dark done while you are fresh. Big fields such as Stapleford Hall (700 places) have atmosphere and plenty of runners to pace off; a 60-place event like the winter Longbridge 100 has more pit space and quieter nights.

The training is the same for all of them: an ultramarathon training plan built on long, easy volume, a practised eat-every-hour routine, and a recovery plan for afterwards, because 30 laps is 125 miles on 30 hours without sleep. My ultra marathon kit list covers the pit: a chair, a camp bed, three sets of dry kit, a head torch per night and food you have already eaten in training. If 24 laps has you thinking about a point-to-point 100-miler instead, the best 100-mile ultramarathons guide ranks them, and the best ultra marathons in the UK covers 50K to multi-day.

How fast should you run each lap, and do you sleep?

Aim for a lap of about 50 to 52 minutes, which is 12 to 12.5 minutes a mile and leaves 8 to 10 minutes in the pit every hour.

The arithmetic is simple. At 12 minutes a mile, 4.167 miles takes exactly 50 minutes and leaves 10 minutes to eat, drink and sit. At 11 minutes a mile you are back in under 46 minutes; at 13 minutes a mile you have less than six minutes spare, which is not enough to eat properly. When Sarah Perry ran 95 laps at Big's in October 2025 her average lap was 51 minutes 13 seconds. The most common mistake at a first backyard is running the early laps in 40 minutes because it feels easy: the extra rest cannot be banked, and the faster running costs you later.

You do not sleep properly in a backyard ultra. Past 24 hours, many experienced runners take naps of a few minutes in a chair after a slightly quicker lap and treat the night as one long shift. Start time shapes this: a noon start puts the first darkness at roughly laps 8 to 18, while a Friday 9pm start puts the dark laps first and saves daylight for the hard middle.

What do you eat during a backyard ultra?

You eat in the pit between laps, little and often, because the hourly bell gives you a fixed window of about 8 to 10 minutes and nothing can be handed to you on the loop.

The calorie bill is large. Running at 12-minute miles is 8.5 METs in the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities, so a 70 kg runner uses about 8.5 x 70 x 50/60 = 496 calories per lap, and 24 laps comes to roughly 12,000 calories. Nobody eats that back; the aim is to eat enough every hour to keep going. My backyard ultra nutrition guide sets out what to eat lap by lap, and the running calorie calculator will work out your own figure from your weight and pace.

Compact food helps when the window is short: the highest calorie bars in the UK carry a lap's worth of calories in a hand-sized piece. Phoenix Bars, which I make, have up to 557 calories in a compact, lightweight 120g bar and can be broken into pieces or stirred into water as porridge on a night lap; like any high calorie bars, test them in training. Rotate sweet and savoury, keep fluids and salts going, and read the guide to nausea and appetite loss during endurance events before race day rather than during it. If you're choosing bars for the night laps, my guide to the best energy bars for ultra running compares five and shows which suits each part of a race.

How do UK runners qualify for the backyard ultra world championship?

UK runners reach the world championship through Team UK: 15 runners made up of the four winners of designated silver-ticket races plus the 11 highest lap counts from any affiliated backyard in a two-year window.

Big's Backyard Ultra in Tennessee alternates the championships. In even years there is a World Team Championship, raced at the same moment on home courses in more than 50 countries; the 2026 edition started on 17 October 2026, and the UK team ran at Sherwood Pines Forest, hosted by Rasselbock Running. The 2026 qualifying window ran from 16 August 2024 to 15 August 2026. The UK silver tickets went to Phil Marshall (Portland Pig, 46 laps), Andrew Miles (God's Own spring, 58), Alex Sweet (The Highlander, 44) and Alun Rose (Longbridge 100 summer, 25), and the at-large list was led by Sarah Perry (95), Dave Phillips (65), Iain Bethune (64) and Sam Mayhew (64). Results of the 17 October race had not been published on the Big's site when I checked.

In odd years Big Dog's hosts the Individual World Championship, next starting on 16 October 2027. Places go to the top 50 national champions from the team race plus 25 runners from the at-large list, judged on results between 16 August 2025 and 15 August 2027. For the 2026 to 2028 cycle the official site lists "bronze ticket" and "silver ticket" events by country, and many UK races above are marked as bronze, so check that list before you build a season around one race.

What are the UK backyard ultra records?

The British record is 95 laps (395.8 miles), set by Sarah Perry at Big's Backyard Ultra in October 2025, which was also a women's world record.

Britain has a strong history in the format. The first Suffolk Backyard Ultra, at Knettishall Heath in June 2021, produced a world best: John Stocker ran 81 laps (337.5 miles), with Matt Blackburn the assist on 80, beating the previous best of 75 laps. Sarah Perry won the UK team race in October 2024 with 59 laps, with Alex Sweet on 58, and her 95 laps a year later beat Matt Blackburn's British best of 87. The world record is 119 laps (495.8 miles), set by Phil Gore at Dead Cow Gully in Australia in June 2025. For scale, 24 laps is 100 miles and 48 laps is 200 miles, and the course records listed for most UK backyards sit between about 25 and 45 laps; the highest is Suffolk's 88.

Frequently asked questions

How long does a backyard ultra last? It lasts until one runner completes a lap alone, so there is no set length. Even the course records at most UK backyards are 25 to 45 laps, so most races are settled after one or two nights; Suffolk's record of 88 laps took nearly four days. Your own race ends whenever you stop.

How many laps of a backyard ultra make 100 miles? Twenty-four laps make exactly 100 miles (160.9 km), because each lap is 4.167 miles, or 6.706 km. Twelve laps is 50 miles, about seven laps passes marathon distance, and 48 laps is 200 miles. That is why 24 laps, "100 miles in a day", is such a popular target.

Is a last one standing race the same as a backyard ultra? Not always. A backyard ultra follows Lazarus Lake's rules: a 4.167-mile loop every hour and no limit on time. Some events called "last one standing" use a different loop length or a time cap, which can make them friendlier. Only results at backyards affiliated to Big's count towards Team UK selection.

What are the best backyard ultras in the UK? For a first attempt, a flat, well-run loop such as Suffolk, Thetford, Wirral or Putney. For competition, the silver-ticket races (in 2026: Portland Pig, God's Own, The Highlander and Longbridge 100) and the Rasselbock events. For scenery, Golspie under Dunrobin Castle, The District near Penrith or the Medieval at Cosmeston.

Is a backyard ultra harder than a marathon? Yes, for anyone who lasts beyond seven laps, which is already marathon distance. The first 24 laps are a slow 100 miles, and after that you run through a second night with no proper sleep. Because you choose when to stop, though, a backyard can also be a gentle first ultra if you stop at eight or ten laps.

How much does it cost to enter a backyard ultra in the UK? Most published fees for 2026 and 2027 sit between £90 and £120: the Medieval is £95, The Sting £98 to £100, The District and LSD £110, Sherwood Pines £115 and Hardwick Hall £119. The cheapest are Putney (a £28 minimum donation) and Golspie (£60); the summer Longbridge 100 is £140.

Sources: race dates, start times, climb and course records from the Big's Backyard Ultra race listing and each organiser's own site, checked 19 October 2026; Team UK selection from the official 2026 World Team Championship roster and Road to Big's; records from the national record holders table, Athletics Weekly and runABC.

Flaming Phoenix is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any of the event organisers named on this page, including Backyard Ultra UK, Rasselbock Running or Big's Backyard Ultra. Event names are used for identification only and belong to their owners. Dates, fees and capacities were checked on 19 October 2026 and change every season, so confirm with the organiser before entering.