When do you get eliminated in a backyard ultra?

In a backyard ultra you get eliminated for three reasons: not completing the 6.706 km loop within the 60 minutes, not being in the start corral when the bell rings, or receiving aid from your crew outside the permitted zone and time. Any of the three is recorded as a DNF, with your number of completed loops as your final result.

The three ways to be eliminated in a backyard ultra

The rules of a backyard fit in a small space, but they are applied with stopwatch precision. We go through the three causes, from the most common to the rarest.

Not completing the loop in 60 minutes

Each loop measures 6.706 km and you have to cover all of it within the hour between one start and the next. If you’re still metres short when the time is up, you’re out, with no exception whatever the reason: a fall, a cramp or simply going too slowly. It’s the cause of elimination you see most as the race goes on, when the rest margin shrinks loop after loop. The guide what pace to run a backyard at? explains how to work out a loop time that leaves you real margin, and the pace calculator turns it into concrete minutes for your plan.

Not being in the corral when the bell rings

Even if you completed the previous loop with time to spare, if you’re not inside the start corral at the exact moment of the bell, you’re eliminated just as if you hadn’t finished the course. It doesn’t matter if you’re ten seconds away: everyone starts together, every hour on the hour, and whoever isn’t inside is out of the race.

Voluntary withdrawal (and why another cause is hardly ever accepted)

Withdrawing between loops — not starting the next one — is the normal way to end your participation: there’s no penalty, and your result is fixed at the loops already completed. What can mean disqualification, according to the Backyard Ultra Gran Canaria rules (which don’t allow you to leave the course mid-loop except for physiological needs) and other sources on the format, is quitting halfway round a loop for a cause the organiser doesn’t include among the accepted ones. The specific rules vary somewhat from one race to another, so it’s worth reading your race’s rules before the start instead of taking anything for granted.

The corral and the warnings before each start

Before each bell, the organiser sounds warnings with 3, 2 and 1 minute to go. That’s your window to leave the chair, finish eating or changing, and get into the corral. The 1-minute warning is the signal that you should already be on your feet and heading for the line, not that there’s time for one last bite. This structure — corral, 3-2-1 warnings and a start on the hour — is common in the backyard format, although each set of rules may adjust it slightly.

When and where your crew can help you

According to the same rules, aid from your crew is allowed only from the 3rd loop onwards and only in the crew area, once you’ve completed the loop and before you head out again. On the course — while you’re out, running or walking the loop — aid is forbidden in every case, even something as simple as passing you a bottle when you cross paths with your crew on the course. If your plan relies on supporters, it’s worth them being as clear on this as you are: well-meaning help at the wrong moment can cost you the race.

What happens if nobody completes the last loop in time

The usual outcome of a backyard is that one runner completes a loop that nobody else finishes: that’s the winner. But the rules also provide for the opposite scenario: if no runner manages to complete the last loop contested within the 60 minutes, the race ends without a winner. It’s an uncommon situation, but it’s part of the rules of the last one standing format we explain in what a backyard ultra is.

Typical mistakes that eliminate first-timers

Most avoidable eliminations don’t come down to bad luck, but to management: cutting it so fine with the bell that the margin is down to seconds, relying on a crew that doesn’t know the permitted zones, or reaching the corral having completed the previous loop by a miracle and with nothing left for the next one. The guide to ten typical mistakes in your first backyard goes through them one by one, with how to avoid them from before the start.

If you’re preparing your first backyard and want someone to review your plan for pace, rest and loop strategy before race day, tell us your goal.