Backyard Ultra Podcast

Dead Cow Gully (Masters) is kicking off this weekend showcasing some of the best Backyard Ultra runners in the world.  Race Mastermind and Director Tim Walsh came on to talk all things backyards and Dead Cow.

Nearly everyone who has run an ultra in Victoria would have met Barry in his sports beer marquee at some point.  In the last couple of years Barry has really taken an interest in running Backyards himself and his results are impressive.  Just recently at 2 Rivers Backyard Ultra Barry ran 31 yards, which at 62 years old is the most yards ever completed in a BYU by someone his age in Australia.

Rose ran her first Backyard Ultra last year at GV where she ran 19 yards.  After GV Rose decided that she really wanted to commit to the BYU format and see how far she could go.  Rose recently ran at 2 Rivers BYU and ran a huge race, completing 30 yards, which makes her only the fourth woman ever to break 30 yards in a BYU in Victoria.

Lukasz grabbed the attention of the Backyard Ultra world last year with his amazing Last One Standing performance at Suffolk BYU where he ran 88 yards.  A few weeks ago Lukasz ran at Legends BYU in Belgium, where he broke the Backyard Ultra WORLD RECORD by running for an incredible 116 yards.

Kendall ran his first Backyard Ultra last year at Sydney's and completed 18 yards.  This year he fronted up to Sydney's again and ran an incredible race to complete 50 yards, making him at 21 years old, the youngest person in the world to break 50.  Kendall's next race is on the 24th May in the USA at Nick Bare's Go One More Ultra.

In 2022 Ben Nicholls and Mat Dube were the first to take a Victorian Backyard Ultra into the 40's.  Last week they were at it again, being the first to run a Victorian Backyard Ultra into the 50's (not including Sat Champs), at Melbourne Frontyard Ultra.

Jashy burst onto the Australian BYU scene last year when he ran 57 yards at Reds to qualify for team Australia.  Since then he has proven himself to be one of the very best Backyard Ultra runners in the world, running 75 yards at the Sat Champs and most recently he finished as the Assist at Sydney's BYU with 80 yards.

Tim is a familiar face in the BYU world through his crewing, running and providing statistical analysis.  Tim was always planning for 2025 to be the year where he focusses on running Backyard Ultras and he started the year in the best possible way, finishing as the Last One Standing at Herdys, smashing his PB in the process and proving himself to be a really exciting runner to watch.

Mitch ran 32 yards in his first Backyard Ultra last year at I'm Still Standing BYU and then 21 yards at Clint Eastwood.  After some fine tuning of his race plan Mitch showcased what he is capable of with an outstanding 40 yard Last One Standing performance at 2025's I'm Still Standing BYU.  

Lizzie ran her first Backyard Ultra in 2021 where she completed 19 yards.  She spent the next three years running many ultra's up to 200 miles till she returned to the Backyard racing world ready to make her mark.  At Rasselbock BYU this year Lizzie finished as the assist running 50 yards, becoming the 21st woman in the world to reach the 50 yard milestone.

Iain Bethune's first Backyard Ultra was at the Cow Shed BYU in 2022 where he ran 27 yards.  Iain and his wife Julie are believed to be the only Husband/Wife duo to have made their countries BYU team when they ran for team UK last year.  Iain recently finished as the Last One Standing at Rasselbock BYU completing 51 yards.  Check out Iain and Julie's blog here: https://www.milestogether.co.uk/

Dave ran his first Backyard Ultra at Andy's BYU in 2021.  He has been consistently improving since then, running 37 yards at Capital and 52 yards at Ohio's.  Notably, he claimed the title of Last One Standing at Queeny BYU, which earned him a spot on Team USA for last year's Sat Champs. There, he delivered an outstanding performance, completing 64 yards and achieving his personal best to date.

Duncan embarked head first into his running journey after discovering the Backyard Ultra format in early 2024 where he crewed for a friend at MVP.  He made his Backyard Ultra debut at MVP this year, completing 26 yards and finishing in the top 5.

Brandon 'The Crow' Lee and Dan 'Farms' Farmer have been running together in the Ardeer Trotters for just over a year now.  Over the last couple of months The Crow and Farms have been training together in preparation for MVP which was run last weekend in extreme conditions.  The Crow finished as the assist with 30 yards and Farms finished third with 27.  

Gaby has been fuelling athletes for 10 years, working with many of the worlds best Backyard Ultra Runners.  It was great being able to have Gaby back on the podcast, where we explored the vital role of nutrition in Backyard Ultras and gained valuable insights from her expertise.

Sean ran his first backyard ultra at Dead Cow Gully back in 2022 when he ran 30 yards.  Since then he has increased his PB to 37 and just recently finished as the Last One Standing at Glasshouse Standing.

Frank was part of the all conquering Belgium Backyard Ultra team that finished on top of the world standings at the World Satellite Team Champs in 2024.  Frank was one of three runners who broke the world record in that race when he, Ivo and Merijn called it a day after running 110 yards.

Tim Kacprzak, Mat Dube and Ben Nicholls join the podcast to relive the Backyard Ultra year that was 2024.

Clayton loves Backyard Ultra's, he's run in three and his best result is currently 25 yards which he ran at I'm Still Standing BYU earlier this year.  Clayton also organises a BYU run club that meets monthly and runs in different locations around Sydney.