Registration for the 2025 Banana Slug Backyard Ultra and the Banana Slug Backyard 24 is now open.

These races started selling out in 2024 and had long wait lists. We only expect the 2025 race to be even more popular, so we encourage anyone interested to register as soon as possible.

Congratulations to Scott Martin for winning the 2024 Banana Slug Backyard Ultra by running 204.17 miles in under 49 hours, and to Julija Šorytė with the assist by running 200 miles in under 48 hours. See the complete results for more details and photographs.

Congratulations to Shannon Black and Van "Pigtails" Phan for finishing the 2024 Banana Slug Backyard 24 by running 100 miles in under 24. See the complete results for more details and photographs.

The 2024 Banana Slug Backyard Ultra starts Friday, April 19 at 7:00 AM. Nobody knows when it will end.

While the race is going, you can follow along here with a live video stream or with a live spreadsheet showing who is still in the race and their time for completing each loop.

Race day is just two days away! Here are 12 runners that will be toeing the line in the 3rd annual Banana Slug Backyard Ultra starting this Friday. Tap/click on an image above to read more or see the full set of runner profiles here.

And yes, for any of you wondering, "Wait. Didn't we just go through all this? Wasn't there just a Banana Slug race last weekend?". The answer is yes! Starting this year, we are hosting 2 Banana Slug races every year. The race last weekend was a "Backyard 24" which is limited to 24 hours (100 miles) total. The race this weekend is a "Backyard Ultra".

A backyard ultra is the same basic format, (a 4.167-mile that must be completed each and every hour), but with no limit on the total time or distance for the race. Instead, the race continues in a last-one-standing format. If there is a loop that only a single person finishes, the race ends and that person is the winner (and only finisher!) of the race. If, instead, there is a loop where every remaining runner is eliminated on that same loop, then the race ends with no winner at all, (everyone gets a DNF).

In the first 2 years of this race, the winner went 34 hours and then 33 hours. That was Scott Martin both years. I have some good reasons to suspect the race will go longer this year. But I have no idea how long, nor do I have any guess who will win. We'll have to see if Scott will win a third year in a row, or if someone else will have the misfortune of not being able to find their own limit in this race.

The winner this year does automatically earn a place on the US National team which will be competing as a team, (against other national teams all over the world), and simultaneously against each other. That US national championship race will take place at Big's Backyard Ultra on October 19, 2024.

A portion of the proceeds from the 2024 races will be donated to local non-profit organizations with a connection to the runners and race organizers:

Children's Center is a Children’s Advocacy Center whose mission is to work with the community to end abuse and neglect through assessment, treatment, and prevention. They are working to build a world where all children feel safe, valued, and heard.

Clackamas County Search and Rescue is a local all-volunteer non-profit organization dedicated to providing Search and Rescue assistance for people who are lost or injured out of doors.

In addition, in recognition of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month we also encourage all participants and friends of the Banana Slug Backyard races to to make a donation to Children's Center, to help end child abuse in our community.

Race day is just one week away! Here are seven runners that will be toeing the line in the inaugural Banana Slug Backyard 24 next Saturday. Tap/click on an image above to read more or see the full set of runner profiles here.

With the 2024 Banana Slug Backyard Ultra and Backyard 24 races just a week or two away, registration is closed for both races, and we have final rosters for the races.

The Banana Slug Backyard 24 will start on Saturday April 13 at 8:00 AM.

The Banana Slug Backyard Ultra will start on Friday April 19 at 7:00 AM.

If you can't come out to Champoeg State Park in Oregon to watch, tune in here to the website where we will have live tracking of race results.

As in previous years, live tracking will include a spreadhseet giving the times for every runner on every loop of the race. And we will make our best effort to have a live video stream of the race as well.

With so much interest in the race next year, we've now opened an additional event: The Banana Slug Backyard 24 on April 13.

This race has the same basic format as the backyard ultra, but with a limit of 24 loops/hours (100 miles) and no winner. This is a great opportunity for people new to the backyard-ultra format to get a feel for things. Plus, it's about half the cost of the Banana Slug Backyard Ultra. Registration is open now. (Nov. 5, 2023)

With 60 runners registered for the 2024 Banana Slug Backyard Ultra, the race is now full and registration is closed. You can add your name to the wait list in case a spot opens up.

The third annual Banana Slug Backyard will start on Friday April 19, 2024 at 7:00 AM. Registration is now open! (And early-bird registration pricing is available through the end of the month).

Congratulations to Scott Martin for winning the 2023 Banana Slug Backyard Ultra by running 137.5 miles in under 33 hours, and to Mikey Sklar with the assist by running 133.33 miles in under 32 hours. See all 2023 results for more details and photographs.

With the 2023 Banana Slug Backyard Ultra less than a week away, we now have a final roster for the race. I can't wait to hand out these custom-made, personalized medallions to each runner, and then find out who gets to slot theirs into the winner trophy to take home.

The race will start on Friday April 21, 2023 at 7:00 AM. If you can't come out to Champoeg State Park in Oregon to watch, tune in here to the website where we will have live tracking of race results.

Just like last year, the live tracking will include a spreadsheet giving the times for every runner on every loop of the race. And new for the 2023 race we are planning to have a live video stream of the race as well.

We've just published our 15th, 16th, and 17th profiles of runners in the 2023 race: Stephen Schieberl, Amy Margolis, and David Wilson, and Tap/click on an image above to read more or see the full set of runner profiles here.

The second annual Banana Slug Backyard will start on Friday April 21, 2023 at 7:00 AM. Registration is now open! (And early registration pricing is available through the end of the year.

We've now published the complete set of 2022 race photographs. Thanks to James Holk for the excellent photography. (May 3, 2022)

Congratulations to Scott Martin for winning the 2022 Banana Slug Backyard Ultra! See the 2022 results for results of all 45 participants.

The race is on right now and we have live tracking available. This is "live" in the sense that it's being updated while the race is still happening. But it is not instantaneous, (this is manual timing, not chip timing, and our internet access from the park is very spotty). So please be patient with any delays before results appear!

What does it take to fuel an athlete through a winning performance in a backyard ultra? Nutrition and hydration is a delicate balancing act in any athletic performance. But a backyard ultra, which can last for multiple days, can make the task particularly challenging.

We're pleased that Tailwind Nutrition has generously agreed to sponsor the 2022 Banana Slug Backyard Ultra by providing an abundance of Tailwind Endurance Fuel in 3 different flavors. (For myself, the mandarin orange flavor was an early faorite, but more recently I've switched almost exclusively to the Naked (Unflavored) version instead.)

I really like the simplicity of Tailwind. With the mixture at just the right concentration (neither watery nor syrupy) I know I can get the hydration, the calories, and the electrolytes I need with just one bottle.

And Tailwind has a particularly strong track record at backyard ultra. The winner at each Big's Backyard Ultra for the last 3 years has been a Tailwind athlete: Maggie Guterl in 2019 with 60 hours (250 miles), Courtney Dauwalter in 2020 with 68 hours (283.33 miles), and Harvey Lewis in 2021 with 85 hours (354.17 miles).

Maggie wrote up a detailed fueling plan describing how she used Tailwind Endurance Fuel and other foods to power her winning performance in 2019.

I'm looking forward to seeing what people can do at the Banana Slug Backyard Ultra in 2022! See you in a few days.

With the race less than a week a way, registration is now closed and the final roster is published. Runners can start getting comfortable with their bib numbers now.

We've just published the final 2022 race packet with all the information a participant in the race needs, (driving directions, schedule, required gear, safety instructions, etc.).

We've just published our 36th runner profile of Glenn Armstrong. Tap/click on an image above to read more or see the full set of runner profiles here.

Runners, please email Carl Worth <carl@slug.run> if you'd be willing for me to post a profile of you. Obviously, there's no obligation to do so, but it's fun to get to know each other a bit before we all spend a weekend together in April.

It's so nice watching spring come in at Champoeg Park! Here are a few photos I snapped yesterday along the course of the race.

In just two weeks, I'm going to be spending every hour of the weekend at this lovely park, watching about 50 brave, extraordinary, and maybe foolish runners running around and around the park for hours and miles until they can't run anymore.

If you'd like to come out and join me, I'd love the company, and I've also got some opportunities for you to volunteer to help make the race a success. Please sign up if you can at our volunteer page (https://slug.run/volunteers/)

The "night loop" route for the race has been changed significantly. Download the current GPX track to see the updated course.

In order to accommodate all runners currently on the waiting list, we've decided to expand the race slightly from 50 to 60 runners total. Registration is now open once again through April 16 or until the race is full.

With 50 runners now registered the race is at capacity and registration is closed. There is a wait list available in case any new spots become available.

It's going to be so much fun to be together in April and see what everyone can do!

Registration is now open for the April 2022 Banana Slug Backyard Ultra. Early-registration pricing is in place now and is valid through the end of the year, (registration fees will increase on January 1). There are currently 35 runners registered and the race is currently capped at a limit of 50 runners. Register soon to ensure a space in the race!

I'm so happy to announce that the Banana Slug Backyard Ultra is on again! It will start on Saturday morning, April 23, 2022. Registration will open on November 1, 2021.

Big's Backyard Ultra, the original backyard ultra and now the de facto world championship, has gone through some recent reinvention. In 2020 when the pandemic made it impossible to bring the talented, qualified runners from all over the world to compete in a world championship in Tennessee, Laz had the brilliant idea to have a set of simultaneous national championships instead. This introduced two new things to the format:

• There can still be an overall individual runner, (someone who runs more loops than anyone in any other national championship). But the trick is that each championship is run as a standard, standalone backyard ultra that ends as soon as one loop is completed by a single runner. That means a runner that wins their own national championship will not be able to continue running to attempt the overall individual title even if other national championships are still going. In other words, it takes at least at least two people in one race capable of outperforming everyone else at every other race in order to get the individual title. Backyard ultra has always had an "it takes two" nature to it, and now, it has that even more.
• Second, in addition to the individual winner, there is now a team winner as well. Within each national race, the 15 entrants are a team (in addition to competing individually). Every loop that every runner completes counts, and the team with the greatest total loops is the team champion.

With this new format, here were some of the results from October 2020:

• Courtney Dauwalter won the US competition with 68 loops, (a tie for the previously held world record set by Johan Steene at Big's in 2018). But this record was instantly surpassed elsewhere (see below).
• Karel Sabbe won the Belgian championship, the overall individual championship, and set a new world record by completing 75 loops, thanks to Geerts Merijn for the assist of 74 loops. (Note: In June 2021, John Stocker set a new world record of 81 loops.)
• The Belgian team won the team competition with 574 total loops, (compare to the US team which complete 517 total loops).

The necessity of the pandemic proved to be the mother of invention for the backyard. Laz liked the new format so much that he decided to make it a permanent feature. Going forward, on odd-numbered years Big's Backyard Ultra will be a world championship while on even-numbered years, there will be satellite national championships as described above.

And each national championship race is now a "golden ticket" race. Winning a national championship guarantees the winner a spot in the world championship. Similarly, there are now a number of "silver ticket" races, where a winner is guaranteed a spot in the corresponding national championship. Finally, there are "bronze ticket" races, where a winner is guaranteed a spot in a silver-ticket race.

As can be seen in the current US bracket, the Banana Slug Backyard Ultra is a bronze ticket race. The winner of this race will earn the bronze coin pictured above and may find themselves on the path to entering the world championship someday.