From Saturday, 17 October 2026
2026 Backyard World Team Championship
67 countries ran at the same time, each one at home. The team whose 15 runners add up the most yards wins. Start at 14:00 Madrid time (12:00 UTC).
Final · 22 Oct 18:00
World team champion
United States
1,120 team yards · 7,511 km
124
yards in the longest race
32,829
yards · 220,151 km
Final standings by country
PlaceCountryTeam yardsStandingDetail
1Finished · winner Mark Dowdle · 1071,1207,510.7 kmstanding 0/15
2Finished · winner Dan Camac · 871,0697,168.7 kmstanding 0/15
3Finished with no winner · the last runners stopped at 124 yards1,0587,094.9 kmstanding 0/15
4Finished · winner Kazuhiro Kawahata · 1051,0386,960.8 kmstanding 0/15
5Finished · winner Phillips, Dave · 909396,296.9 kmstanding 0/15
6Finished · winner Christophe Baud · 1018895,961.6 kmstanding 0/15
7Finished · winner Michał Sitarek · 838405,633.0 kmstanding 0/15
8Finished · winner Sam Harvey · 778345,592.8 kmstanding 0/15
9Finished · winner Michael Serani · 828305,566.0 kmstanding 0/15
10Finished · winner Ivan Zaborsky · 81Incomplete team: 14 of 15 started7324,908.8 kmstanding 0/14
11Finished · winner Anders Johnsen · 736884,613.7 kmstanding 0/15
12Finished · winner Niklas Sjoblom · 586664,466.2 kmstanding 0/15
13Finished · winner Rodolfo Ramirez Leonides · 736654,459.5 kmstanding 0/15
14Finished · winner Adam Kertesz · 636334,244.9 kmstanding 0/15
15Finished · winner Martin Stiller · 696204,157.7 kmstanding 0/15
16Finished · winner Luciano Pappalettera · 636174,137.6 kmstanding 0/15
17Finished · winner Stefan Wilfinger · 526054,057.1 kmstanding 0/15
18Finished · winner Vittorio Silva · 555843,916.3 kmstanding 0/15
19Finished · winner David Stoltenborg · 605753,856.0 kmstanding 0/15
20Finished · winner Gunnar Karlsson · 695593,748.7 kmstanding 0/15
21Finished · winner Cristian Bartolochini · 515453,654.8 kmstanding 0/15
22Finished · winner Verneri Teppo · 525253,520.7 kmstanding 0/15
23Finished · winner Julija Soryte · 495233,507.2 kmstanding 0/15
24Finished · winner Mihail Balica · 625193,480.4 kmstanding 0/15
25Finished · winner Ritvars Kalniņš · 435063,393.2 kmstanding 0/15
26Finished · winner Ido Dassa · 484923,299.4 kmstanding 0/15
27Finished · winner Paulo Sérgio Andrade Oliveira · 524813,225.6 kmstanding 0/15
28Finished · winner Wayne McGuigan · 394813,225.6 kmstanding 0/15
29Finished · winner Milan Hauer · 414683,138.4 kmstanding 0/15
30Finished · winner Paulo Moreira · 49Incomplete team: 14 of 15 started4623,098.2 kmstanding 0/14
31Finished · winner Nima Javaheri · 434523,031.1 kmstanding 0/15
32Finished · winner Thembinkosi Sojola · 414503,017.7 kmstanding 0/15
33Finished · winner Ilias Tsaparelis · 434483,004.3 kmstanding 0/15
34Finished · winner Lialbert Marrufo · 404362,923.8 kmstanding 0/15
35Finished · winner Bojana Gostan · 424332,903.7 kmstanding 0/15
36Finished · winner Milan Kralik · 374312,890.3 kmstanding 0/15
37Finished · winner Reyna Raymundo · 434222,829.9 kmstanding 0/15
38Finished · winner Ronnel Yongot · 484172,796.4 kmstanding 0/15
39Finished · winner Kaur Alle · 414122,762.9 kmstanding 0/15
40Finished · winner José Antonio Rodríguez Pinzon · 41Incomplete team: 14 of 15 started4002,682.4 kmstanding 0/14
41Finished · winner Mitesh Vijayvargiy · 453972,662.3 kmstanding 0/15
42Finished · winner Jose Luis Guzman · 403892,608.6 kmstanding 0/15
43Finished · winner Naim Selloum · 363892,608.6 kmstanding 0/15
44Finished · winner Savaş Lütfi Kara · 49Incomplete team: 14 of 15 started3872,595.2 kmstanding 0/14
45Finished · winner Ray Grech · 343642,441.0 kmstanding 0/15
46Finished · winner King'ori Wanjiru · 39Incomplete team: 12 of 15 started3612,420.9 kmstanding 0/12
47Finished with no winner · the last runners stopped at 24 yards3582,400.7 kmstanding 0/15
48Finished · winner Jonatan Rodrigo Torena Rodríguez · 393562,387.3 kmstanding 0/15
49Finished · winner Anatolii Verbivskyi · 383502,347.1 kmstanding 0/15
50Finished · winner Victor Muñoz Garcia · 383462,320.3 kmstanding 0/15
51Finished · winner Brahim Aldaz · 473312,219.7 kmstanding 0/15
52Finished · winner Ricardo Arias · 313232,166.0 kmstanding 0/15
53Finished · winner 高正治 · 293092,072.2 kmstanding 0/15
54Finished · winner Marius Kouakou · 362841,904.5 kmstanding 0/15
55Finished · winner Cosmas Bwalya · 322771,857.6 kmstanding 0/15
56Finished · winner Tobias Verwey · 232741,837.4 kmstanding 0/15
57Finished · winner Kendall Picado Fallas · 252701,810.6 kmstanding 0/15
58Finished · winner Livio Feliz · 262531,696.6 kmstanding 0/15
59Finished · winner John Witton · 272491,669.8 kmstanding 0/15
60Finished · winner Jamal Said · 292341,569.2 kmstanding 0/15
61Finished · winner Nikolay Hristov · 34Incomplete team: 14 of 15 started2321,555.8 kmstanding 0/14
62Finished · winner Arjun Kulung Rai · 27Incomplete team: 13 of 15 started2301,542.4 kmstanding 0/13
63Finished · winner Ramon Arceo Rodriguez · 252221,488.7 kmstanding 0/15
64Finished · winner Julio Cesar Sharup Guanuchi · 27Incomplete team: 12 of 15 started2061,381.4 kmstanding 0/12
65Finished · winner Florin Teleman · 252031,361.3 kmstanding 0/15
66Finished · winner Wayne Cassidy · 251901,274.1 kmstanding 0/15
67Finished · winner Willie David Christopher · 21Incomplete team: 13 of 15 started1811,213.8 kmstanding 0/13
—Not starting—did not start—
—Not starting—did not start—
Most yards of the championship
- 1Ivo Steyaert124831.5 km
- 2Merijn Geerts124831.5 km
- 3Mark Dowdle107717.5 km
- 4Jon Noll106710.8 km
- 5Kazuhiro Kawahata105704.1 km
682 runners went past 24 yards (100 miles).
How the World Championship works
Each country stages its own backyard and they all start at the same time. A 6.706 km loop every hour, on the hour; anyone not on the line when the bell rings is out.
The team is credited with the yards of its 15 runners added together. There are no relays: everyone runs the whole race, from the first bell until they drop.
Frequently asked questions
When does the 2026 Backyard World Team Championship start?
The start was on Saturday, 17 October 2026, at 14:00 Madrid time (12:00 UTC). Every country starts at the same time, each at its own venue.
How many countries and runners take part?
67 countries and 990 runners took the start, out of the 69 entered: Mauritius and Singapore did not start.
Is it a relay race?
No. All of each team’s runners set off together at the first bell and each one keeps going until they are eliminated, as in any backyard. The country is credited with the yards of all its runners added together, and nobody runs in someone else’s place.
How often is this page updated?
It is updated every minute from the organiser’s official leaderboard. The figures are provisional until the officials validate them.
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