2024 Red Dirt Backyard Ultra

2024 OFFICIAL RED DIRT BACKYARD ULTRA

Our Red Dirt Backyard Ultra is an ultramarathon event set around a 6.71km loop (or yard as it is known in the Backyard Ultra world), where participants run a loop on the hour, every hour until there is only one participant left – known as the Last One Standing (LOS) – and everyone else is deemed a DNF or Did Not Finish.

For 2024, the Pilbara Trailblazers Red Dirt Backyard Ultra is an Official Backyard Ultra and will run as long as there are two runners still going. Unfortunately, this means that entering as a team won't be an option, but why not come down and push yourself to see how many yards you can knock out? The race is located on a 6.71km course that starts and finishes at the Bayview Road Caravan Park in Nickol. The course is trail, with a mixture of gravel, hard sand, and red dirt. Although it is flat (no elevation), the mixed terrain and sometimes uneven surfaces become interesting after you’ve done a few loops!

The concept of the Backyard Ultra is the brainchild of Lazarus Lake (Laz) of Big Dogs Backyard in the USA. Laz came up with the idea to see how far runners can push themselves, but in a more approachable format. Anything can be achieved in the backyard!

The backyard ultra is an exciting event format, and WA is home to the biggest Backyard Ultras in the world – Herdy’s Frontyard Ultra, brought to you by Ultra Series WA and run at Herdsman Lake in Perth. Ultra Series WA also facilitates Birdy’s Backyard Ultra at Lake Towerinning in SW WA, another spectacular event hosted on a spectacular private property in the cold winter months.

In our inaugural RDBU in 2022, we had 39 solo participants, with the event winner, Levi Winman, and his assist Ben Lyon, completing an amazing 80km over the 12 hours.

In 2023, we increased the time to a 24-hour race and included the option to run as a team. The solo winner, Ethan Stirrat (24 loops), and Jamie Oborne (16 loops) as the assist. The team winner, Primal MMA, also completed the full 24 hours, running a total distance of 161.04km.