Team USA starts the 2026 Backyard Ultra World Team Championship at 7am Central on Saturday 17 October, on the course where the format was born: Laz Lake’s farm in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. At the same moment, roughly 1,110 runners from 74 countries start on courses in their own nations, and every loop they finish counts toward their country’s total.
The rules haven’t changed since Laz invented them. Each loop is 4.167 miles (6.7056 km), and you have an hour to finish it. A new loop starts on the hour, every hour. Miss the cut-off, or fail to be in the start corral when the bell goes, and you’re out. There’s no set finish: the 2024 team championship ran for more than four days.
- Start: Saturday 17 October 2026, 7am CDT (8am EDT, 5am PDT, 12:00 UTC), simultaneous worldwide
- Course: Big’s Backyard, Laz Lake’s farm, Bell Buckle, Tennessee
- Format: 4.167 miles per loop, one loop an hour, last runner standing wins the course
- Scoring: every loop by the 15 US runners is added to the national total
- Team USA’s record: champions in 2022 (860 loops), third in 2024 (969)
- Defending champions: Belgium, 1,147 loops in 2024 (Australia 971, USA 969)
- Top Americans: Harvey Lewis and Jon Noll, 111 loops each at Big’s 2025
- World record: Phil Gore (Australia), 119 loops, about 496 miles (June 2025)
The Team USA roster
The team is six Silver Ticket winners (victories at designated US backyard races) plus the nine best at-large results from the qualifying window, 16 August 2024 to 15 August 2026. The numbers below are each runner’s best qualifying result in loops, from the official selection list, not necessarily a lifetime best.
| Runner | Best qualifying result (loops) |
|---|---|
| Harvey Lewis | 111 |
| Jon Noll | 111 |
| Mark Dowdle (Silver Ticket) | 94 |
| Scott Snell | 88 |
| Greg Fall | 80 |
| Scott Martin (Silver Ticket) | 78 |
| Megan Smyth | 77 |
| Jennifer Russo | 76 |
| Levi Yoder | 75 |
| Ron Wireman | 74 |
| Stephanie Rosebaugh | 67 |
| Nick Petterson (Silver Ticket) | 65 |
| Ryan Snickles (Silver Ticket) | 55 |
| Nicholas Steel (Silver Ticket) | 53 |
| Jeff Walker (Silver Ticket) | 49 |
What to watch for
- The 111 pair. Harvey Lewis and Jon Noll both ran 111 loops at Big’s 2025, finishing third and fourth behind Phil Gore (114) and Belgium’s Ivo Steyaert (113). Lewis, a two-time Big’s champion (2021 and 2023), set the then-world record of 108 in 2023. If both go deep on home dirt, they carry a big share of the total.
- Two loops. The US won the team title in 2022 with 860 loops, then lost second place to Australia by two loops in 2024, 971 to 969. Australia race this time without Gore, who is recovering from leg surgery.
- The defending US winner. Scott Snell won the US course in 2024 with 88 loops and is back. Mark Dowdle (94) is the strongest of the Silver Ticket winners.
- No Megan Eckert. The 2024 assist runner (87 loops, then the women’s record) and a 92-loop finisher at Big’s 2025 isn’t on the official list. In September she ran 636 miles at the six-day world championships in Hungary, the first woman past 1,000 km in six days.
Depth decides team titles. Every loop counts, so avoiding early drops matters as much as how long the stars last. Belgium won in 2024 because three runners reached 110 and the rest of the team held up behind them.
Could the world record fall?
The record is Phil Gore’s 119 loops, set at Dead Cow Gully in Queensland in June 2025. It’s an individual mark, separate from the team scoring: on each course the winner is the last runner to complete a loop alone. A new record needs two runners on the same course to reach 119, then one of them to finish the 120th alone. Here’s the full backyard ultra world record history.
How to follow live
- Official livestream: the Backyard Ultra Channel on YouTube, from 6:45am CDT.
- Results and rosters: bigsbackyardultra.com.
- Team Australia: our live updates, posted each Australian morning.
A day is 24 loops (100 miles), so a quick guide: anyone still running at 7am Central on Monday has done 48 loops, and 72 by 7am Tuesday.
FAQ
What time does the Backyard Ultra World Team Championship start?
7am CDT on Saturday 17 October 2026 (8am EDT, 5am PDT). Every country starts at the same moment, 12:00 UTC.
Where is Team USA racing?
At Big’s Backyard, Laz Lake’s farm in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, the original backyard ultra course.
Who won the last team championship?
Belgium, in 2024, with 1,147 loops. Australia were second with 971 and the USA third with 969.
How far is a backyard ultra loop?
4.167 miles (6.7056 km), so 24 loops make exactly 100 miles.
