The ones who last the longest.
Two tables: the world one, with the best performances in yards on the planet, and the national one, with performances set in Spanish races. In a backyard, a performance is the number of 6.71 km loops completed, so they are ordered by loops, not by time — 24 loops are 100 miles.
World ranking all-time
The best performances in yards on the planet, with each runner’s country. We don’t calculate it: it is taken from the organisation that maintains it.
| # | Runner | Country | Year | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ivo Steyaert Leader | Belgium | 2026 | 124 |
| 1 | Merijn Geerts Leader | Belgium | 2026 | 124 |
| 3 | Phil Gore | Australia | 2025 | 119 |
| 4 | Sam Harvey | New Zealand | 2025 | 118 |
| 5 | Łukasz Wróbel | Poland | 2025 | 116 |
National ranking all-time
Each runner’s best performance of the year in Spanish races. When there is an official table, its data takes precedence; otherwise, we calculate it from the results in our archive.
| # | Runner | Best race | Year | Yards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oriol Antoli Sarrau Leader | Legends Backyard Belgium | 2026 | 113 |
| 2 | José Manuel Ruiz Verdugo | Legends Backyard Belgium | 2026 | 65 |
| 3 | Eric Priego Pastor | Backyard Ultra - World Team Championship 2024 - ESP | 2024 | 60 |
| 4 | Carlos Miguel Gallego Rodríguez | Backyard Ultra Spain | 2024 | 52 |
| 5 | Jose Carlos Alcazar Garcia | Backyard Ultra - World Team Championship 2024 - ESP | 2024 | 51 |
How yards are counted
A backyard ultra has no finish distance: you start every hour, on the hour, on a 6.71 km (4.167 miles) loop, and anyone who doesn’t complete it in time or doesn’t start the next one is out. A runner’s performance is the number of loops they completed. We explain it all in what yards are and in what a backyard ultra is .
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between the world and the national ranking?
They measure different things; one is not a cut-down version of the other. The world ranking gathers the best performances on the planet, whoever sets them and wherever, and it is published by the organisers of Big's Backyard Ultra. The national ranking, when an official list exists, gathers Spanish runners wherever they race; when it doesn’t, we calculate it from our archive, and then it gathers performances set in Spanish races. That’s why a runner can appear in one and not in the other.
How is a backyard ultra ranking ordered?
By loops completed, never by time. In a backyard you start every hour, on the hour, on a 6.71 km (4.167 miles) loop and keep going until only one runner is left standing, so there is no finish distance to time: each runner’s performance is their loops, the ‘yards’. 24 loops are 100 miles.
Do you calculate these tables yourselves?
Not the world one, and we couldn’t: it counts performances set in races we don’t hold, so deriving it would mean making it up. We transcribe it from whoever publishes it. The national one also prefers the official table, and only when there isn’t one for a season do we calculate it from the results in our archive. The footer of each table tells you which of the two you are looking at and how up to date it is.
Want to climb this ranking?
A tailored plan to help you hold out for more yards at your next race.