God’s Own Backyard Ultra is a backyard event that takes place in Bramley Fall Woods and the canal towpath each May and November. In a backyard, you have one hour to complete a 6.7km loop. You have to be back in the starting pen on the hour for the next loop and anyone that doesn’t make it is eliminated. The winner is the last person standing.
I’ve never had a “proper go” at one. I did God’s Own back in 2022 but had to make a planned drop out after 11 laps. I then did Dublin Mountain in 2023, but with 250 metres of elevation gain per lap, it is not comparable to other races. This time, I was going to see how far I could go.
That said, I was doing it for fun, so I didn’t want to put any pressure on myself. If I went and did one lap, that was fine. If I got a PB, that would also be good. And that’s the thing about packing for a backyard. You take so much stuff and have no idea whether you’re going to be running for an hour or a full day (or more). I felt silly walking down to the race in my changing robe at in 20 degree heat, but felt very glad of it after it got dark.
Early laps were good. I used arm screens and a wide-brimed hat to try and protect myself from the sun. I also went for leggings initially, but abandoned this after the first couple of laps. The Saturday was relatively cool, peaking at 21, and much of the race is in the woods so you get some shade. I certainly didn’t envy those still running on the Sunday and Monday when it got really hot. Last time I did the race, I fell twice, so I was pleased to get through without any issues.
Once I was through 11, things changed. On the plus side, exciting things were happening. 12 was a PB, 13 was a double marathon, 14 was the first night loop, 15 was 100k, and 17k was a 24-hour PB. The only lap I didn’t want to stop on was 16. At the same time, I was increasingly hurting and not able to each as much between laps.
Food wise, pizza really worked for me. I think I got through most of one during the day, as well as some crisps, an ice lolly, some potatoes, half a sandwich and maybe a few other bits. The real food sat very well compared to sports-specific stuff. There was also a catering tent on site and I drank my way through three slushies throughout the day. I would have done more but they closed as it got dark.
The first night loop was fine. I didn’t get back to camp any faster, though. Lap 15 was hard. I was getting really sore. My hip had been bothering me since the early laps, and Andy kindly let me use his foam roller, but by this point everything was sore and it was becoming harder and harder to run. By lap 16, I decided to walk it and see how I felt. Walking was almost equally painful. I managed a little jog at the end and got back to the corral with less than a minute to spare.
I couldn’t face lap 17. And it felt pretty reasonable because 16 was the lap I didn’t want to stop on, so I think I was just empty by this point. I did cross the timing mat to start lap 17, though. This is important because is technically means I was timed out on lap 17 rather than refused to continue, and because retiring at 12:00:05, meant I can say “I ran into the early hours of Sunday morning”. Both of these things make me happy. Total distance covered:
107.289 kilometres
Five laps added to my backyard personal best and only three kilometres short of my 24-hour PB.
Loads of thank yous: to Gav and Ruth and the whole race team for putting on another great event. The marshals for keeping us safe and offering encouragement. Richard for turning up with ice lollies and orange juice. Everyone who came down and supported, it was lovely to have people cheering us on at the start and end of every lap. My fellow athletes for making it such a communal, encouraging race. And Elina and Venla for putting up with “I’m going for a run; not sure when I’ll be back.”
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Tags: backyard ultra, ultramarathon
This entry was posted on Thursday, May 28th, 2026 at 11:00 am and is filed under Sport. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.