I was talking to my running buddy’s in my gazebo after finishing the Herdys backyard ultra for the sixth time and explaining to them why this type of event allows you to go so much further than any normal race, without a defined finish line. Because the finish is determined by you, either by tapping out or timing out, you decide how deep and for how long you want to put yourself deep in the runner’s pain cave.  It is the only event where you decide when you finish, you alone. Your crew will always attempt to push you out for one more lap, it’s normally what you told then to do at the start , and the volunteers will encourage one more but in the end you make the decision about getting out of the comfy chair and staggering to the start line to go again, one more lap.

I always liken day two of any backyard ultra to a scene from the walking dead, there is a lot of carnage on the course and a lot of suffering. Competitors have been stripped bare and are in autopilot mode moving forward one step at a time towards the finish before they are lifted by their crew and deposited back at the start and left to their own devices for another lap.  This continues until the runner can’t make it back in the hour time limit (timeout) or the legs and mind just give way, and they stay slumped in the chair as the field leaves the corral. (tap out)

What keeps competitors coming back for more is the opportunity to better their previous best, one lap at a time, as that nagging thought in the back of the mind convinces them they can do better, a tweak here, a tweak there. No one ever has the perfect race because if you did, you’d never stop, right? Be it nutrition, hydration, fitness, planning, conditions, crew the list of possible areas to improve on is endless. I don’t know any runner who has said ‘I ran the prefect race, I can retire as I know I will never go further.’, it never happens. This is why a backyard ultra is so dangerous, it’s like crystal meth for runners, always hunting for their next fix and in this case it’s the bigger total of laps completed, highly addictive.  It would also be similar to any addiction as once you finish a backyard ultra you normally vow to never ever do another one as your body and mind are destroyed, in that moment the thought of going again is the last thing you would ever think of doing.  This feeling passes pretty quickly and normally within 24 hours you have a new plan, another tweak that will make a difference, more lesson learned material to add to the backyard ultra running database.  Then when entries open, and there’s an early bird discount,  before you know it you’re emailing your friends asking for crew again, who reply astonished, convinced you had actually retired this time.

So, let’s get to it, Herdy’s 2026. I’d had a very quiet start to the year after my first ever DNF at the 6 inch ultra at the end of 2025 due to illness. I’d mentally never recovered and only ran one ten kilometre run for the whole of January, not ideal preparation for a backyard ultra in March and a 200 miler in early April. I was determined I would start a training block in February and at least give me a chance of beating last year’s total of 19 laps but also be ready for the Delirious West 200 miler a few weeks post Herdy’s. ( https://www.deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ )  Happy to report I ran virtually every day in February and also hit the gym and the Pilates Reformer at least three times a week for some extra strength training, apparently an athlete of my vintage needs to keep hitting the weights surrounded by twenty somethings glued to their phones? Either way I got myself into reasonable shape and for the first time in a few years felt I could give Herdy’s a good tilt.  (for long term followers of my blog, i.e. Mum, you will remember I strained my calf a week out from Herdy’s last year and the previous year I ruined my race by overdosing on electrolytes early on and losing my appetite) This year I was confident I would halt my downward spiral of finishing distances for the event. (47, 34, 28, 24 and 19)

As is tradition I had my morning waffles with Georges and then spent the rest of the day running around like a headless chook getting all the provisions that I knew in the end I wouldn’t eat. After dropping over two hundred dollars at the local Coles I was ready. Karen gave me a lift to the start and my gazebo, which I had set up the night before, paying a $50 premium for the privilege, thanks Si. Last year there was a competition for the best gazebo which we won thanks to Simon’s talented Wife Sophie. Last year it was a Roman theme, this year we were more frozen as you can see from the image below.

With a world record field I skipped to the front of the event and made sure I ran ahead of my fellow competitors as the path is certainly not built for nearly five hundred stampeding runners. I found myself at the front of the pack and decided to stretch the legs finishing the first loop in just over thirty-five minutes.  Funnily enough on the second day, when I was struggling, a spectator noted that I was a lot quicker on lap one, I blamed my quick start for the drop off in pace twenty-four hours or so later, this gave us both a chuckle.

The first few laps were uneventful, and I made sure I was always near the front at the start, unfortunately I was a tad late on the first headtorch lap and paid the price, surrounded by runners at a crawl with trip hazards everywhere.  I made my way through the crowd, but this required so much more energy, and I was spent by the time I slumped into my chair.  Lap four is the first head torch lap (7pm – 8pm lap) and the lake was lit up with hundreds of headtorches as well as boom boxes blasting out tunes, a real party atmosphere. I tried my best to enjoy it, but I was starting to spiral knowing what was ahead. This is one of the big problems with running so many of these backyard ultra events, you know how painful the race is, both mentally and physically. Basically, you know what’s coming and you know you have the power to avoid it but instead plough on. I suppose this is why most runners retire from the format after finishing but after a few days (hours?) change their mind.  (I always think this would be like childbirth, ask a woman straight after giving birth if she’ll go again and you’ll probably get lynched but once they’re recovered it’s a different story, mostly)

As you can see from my BYU career above (thanks to https://backyardultra.com.au/ , a website which has every Australian backyard ultra result) I have struggled in the last few years to match my earlier results. I think a lot of this is down to understanding what it takes to go over thirty hours, and beyond, and asking your mind and body to go to places that basically they have been before on many occasions and now just doesn’t want to go, self-preservation I suppose. When Shaun Kaesler first invited me to a backyard ultra back in 2019 it was a brand-new concept and although I missed the first one, (due to illness or injury I honestly can’t remember now?) when I did run one it was just the most fun and I was hooked. I remember I had to leave at twenty-four hours to be home for family stuff and on lap twenty-four I felt great and finished in under forty minutes, fresh as a daisy. I knew then this was a format I was suited to. This was backed up when early 2021 Phil Gore and I set a new Australian record for the format at the first Herdy’s event.  Phil has gone on to become world champion and word record holder since that event, while I’ve gone downhill gradually and never got close to that distance again. Such is life.

Worth revisiting this post on that event if you’re bored. ? https://www.runbkrun.com/2021/04/04/herdys-backyard-ultra-probably-the-run-of-my-life-so-far/

With a backyard ultra I always feel the first fifteen laps/hours are the worst. Once you get to fifteen laps you’ve hit one hundred kilometres and that’s a reasonable distance. Looking down on your watch and seeing three figures is reassuring, sort of makes the suffering worthwhile. I find post fifteen you can start to see lap twenty two (the tu-tu lap, where are runners wear tu-tu’s ) , and then of course lap twenty four ( one hundred miles) is soon after. Very few people DNF on lap 23 but loads do on lap 24 and 25. It’s hard to see what’s next but if you get past 26 all of a sudden thirty is within touching distance and then of course 36 for 150 miles. You see how setting these achievable goals can help you leapfrog to a big total, one lap at a time.

Right the nighttime laps were pretty uneventful and before I knew it the sunrise was imminent. Was I enjoying myself?  Probably not truth be told but I was lapping around fifty minutes and in no discomfort, so no excuse to stop. I was impressed with the field as it didn’t seem to thin out much during the night and even after the big drop out at fifteen laps (remember, 100 kilometers) there was still a decent number. I think from memory there was 26 out on lap 26, in 2026.

I’m trying to remember how I felt at sunrise but for the life of me I can’t. I know I was running in the middle of the pack, and I had a strategy of running the first section, then a couple of small walk breaks to the water fountain (at around two kilometres) and then running for another section before one small break just before the trail which I would always run.  This was enough to get me in with just over ten minutes to spare, five minutes to sit down and then three minutes to get ready before heading to the corral with two minutes to spare.  As I fatigued I lost most of my sitting down time, but I managed to get six to eight laps without the chair and eating on the course, after finding a bench at around four hundred metres in, just over the first bridge. This turned into a picnic each lap but would mean I was last at around the one kilometre mark. This actually worked in my favour as I would run people down, always good to chase rabbits. I lost my Gazebo buddy Simon Bennet around lap twenty-three, taken out by the ultra-runners curse, the bad stomach issues (and a bad case of gastro coming into the event) being unable to take in food which basically results in a death spiral. He’ll be back in May to take on the reverse course and probably win it, he’s funny like that!

Getting to lap 24 I knew I had more to give and watching and listening to runners ringing the dreaded DNF bell and tapping out would encourage me to go again and move up the leaderboard. I also had my Australia age record for 59 in the back of my mind and post 24 laps this was now the main goal; I needed thirty laps to match it and 31 to beat it.  My Yelo running buddies Vici (lap 25, massive PB) and Andy (lap 26, brilliant effort by a true champion) left me and I was alone for the last push as Saturday day turned into night and I donned my head torch for the second time.

I always enjoy the second night as you have the solitude you craved during the first night and you have achieved so much to get to this point, anything more now is a bonus, well for me anyway.  I feel the pressure of reaching a respectable distance, once you get there, is relieved and you can start to enjoy the event, I say ‘enjoy’ of course in the broadest sense of the word, trust me.  Laps twenty-seven and twenty-eight and I was losing time on the limestone section of the course, which was also into a head wind. I couldn’t move quicker than nine-minute kilometre pace, which meant I would need to run seven-minute pace for the second half, on the trail section.  I was able to do this for three laps but in the end on lap thirty my legs gave up on me and I finished in fifty-nine minutes, not enough time to make the starting corral for lap thirty-one, and the outright Australian age record for fifty-nine. Typing this now you always think ‘what if’ I had made it, why didn’t I try? Easy to think that a few days later but I knew I was done.

Herdy’s 2026 was a big success, as always, I battled through self-doubt early, got to twenty-four and then held on to equal the age record for Australia, 59 years young. All boxes ticked.  Will I go again a few months at the reverse version of Herdys ? Not sure, I really would like to take out the age record and then maybe nudge forty laps, with cooler conditions it may be possible ? I’ll decide post Delirious West 200 miler in two weeks. ( https://www.deliriouswest200miler.com.au/ )  It would fit in quite nicely in May , two weeks before the Cape-to-Cape miler in June, tempting. ( https://www.cape2capeultra.com.au/ )

I’m now top of the leaderboard for total laps for the six events only because Simon Bennett and I are the only runners who had completed all six. Over one thousand two hundred kilometers and one hundred and eight two laps and counting.  Can I hold off Michael and Phil next year, even with a hundred kilometres head start the answer is no, albeit they have to enter first of course. Until then I am officially the King of Herdy’s , self-titled.  (Please note this is humour )

Big shout out to Tribe and Trail for supplying me my T8 clothing ( https://t8.run/ ) for the event. ( https://www.tribeandtrail.com.au/ ) If you live in the Perth area please go and pay Wayne and his team a visit. They are all things trail.  

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Big shout out to fisiocrem , this product is just incredible for tired and aching legs. I use it daily and have noticed a vast improvement in recovery.

Bix hydration is just ace, a product brought to life by Vlad Ixel a professional ultra runner who knows a thing or two about hydration. ( https://www.bixvitamins.com/ )  The best thing about Bix is it tastes good with many different flavours and you never get sick of drinking it, this is a big plus as Maurten and Tailwind (both great products)  can be difficult to digest later in the event.  From the website :-

As an Australian elite multiple trail running champion, with wins in over 40 ultra-marathon races across Asia, recovery from training and races has always been my top priority. 

In searching for a solid recovery and hydration supplement, I recognized that critical vitamins and minerals – both in diversity and quantity – were missing from almost all supplements on the market. I had the feeling that in an effort to maximize their bottom-lines, companies in the hydration space, failed to deliver a product that could meaningfully assist athlete performance. 

In order to address this, I began the development of a hydration product. After two and a half years of development alongside a leading German sports scientist, BIX Recovery, an advanced, high-quality recovery drink was born. 

BIX boosts 12 active ingredients scientifically balanced to replace lost electrolytes and assist in immune function. It’s designed with quality vitamins and minerals, in quantities that work! 

BIX is a recovery solution for everyone, that will get you to the top of your game!

What can I say about HumanTecar,  ( https://athleticus.com.au/ ) it looks great, smells great and is awesome for recovery or even pre-run/workout. Read about the science behind it first and then try the products. The compression bandages are just magical after a long event. Put these on and the next day you are recovered, I have used them on a number of occasions and they never fail to astound me albeit the family poke fun at me as I look like a ‘mummy and smell funny’ !

Fractel ( https://fractel.com.au/ ) have your performance headgear covered. I love the colours and the functionality of these hats, I guarantee there is one model you’ll fall in love with.

Shokz headphones, let you keep in touch with the world around while losing yourself in quality tunes or podcasts. ( https://shokz.com.au/ )

T8 running apparel is the best you can get, second to none. Designed for the ultra humid Hong Kong conditions the owners live in.  It is light and does away with any chaffing worries. T8 is the name given to the highest typhoon warning in Honk Kong,  storms and typhoons with gusts exceeding 180kph, which explains the branding. ( https://t8.run/)

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