Last man standing: Ultra run with unique format comes to Northwest Colorado in June
Steamboat Pilot & Today
Tom Skulski/Steamboat Pilot & Today
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS — Thirteen years after its introduction to the world, the Backyard Ultra endurance race format will be brought to Northwest Colorado in June.
The last-man-standing competition will feature up to 75 of the area’s most daring runners who have one hour to complete a 4.167-mile loop. At the top of the next hour, racers will line back up in the corral and run another lap within the 60-minute limit. This continues until one runner remains and completes the final lap on time. If the final runner is unable to complete their last lap, there is no winner.
“If you did 4.167 miles every hour on the hour, that comes out to 100 miles (in 24 hours),” said race director, Melissa Uchitelle-Rogers. “That distance got set by a fellow who lives in Tennessee — his name is Gary Cantrell. He is the creator of the Backyard format because the first one was actually in his backyard. He is also the creator of some very historic events, such as the Barkley Marathon.”
Uchitelle-Rogers and her husband, Ken Rogers, drew inspiration for the race when a series of friends and family members had died from neurodegenerative diseases. They created the race as a way to raise money for some foundations that hit closer to home than ever before.
“We contacted Parkinson’s Association of the Rockies, the ALS United of the Rocky Mountain Region and then the Alzheimer’s Association that is local,” Uchitelle-Rogers said. “With their blessing, we decided to create this beast.”
The race, known as the Broken Brain Backyard, will take off at 8 a.m. on June 29 from Loudy-Simpson Park in Craig. To reach even more people, there will be a second, less intense race at 8:15 a.m. called the Citizen’s Race, which invites anyone to complete one loop at their leisure.
The world record for a Backyard Ultra race is 108 laps, clocking in at 4.5 days over the course of 450 miles. Uchitelle-Rogers does not expect the race to last that long, but she anticipates some may reach the 24-hour mark with the right amount of preparation.
“Racers are encouraged to set up a little crew station, which may be nothing more than a chair and a cooler, but some people will get fancy and put up a tent or a canopy and they’ll have a crew,” Uchitelle-Rogers said. “You have that time from when you finish a lap until the next hour starts to do whatever. You can even sleep.”
Just 75 racing spots are available for the ultra run, but there is no limit to the Citizen’s Race. All runners get a water bottle and running cap while ultra runners will also receive a mug once they time-out.
For more information or to sign up, visit BrokenBrainBackyard.com.
Last man standing: Ultra run with unique format comes to Northwest Colorado in June
Thirteen years after its introduction to the world, the Backyard Ultra endurance race format will be brought to Northwest Colorado in June.
