Backyard Ultra Podcast

Last week Phil ran for 152 hours as part of his Project 168 run for Telethon. It was an absolute treat to have Phil back on the podcast to talk all about one of the most impressive endurance runs of all time.

Adam McDonald was a natural fit as a commentator at Phil Gore's Project168. He was there from beginning to end capturing moments for the documentary he is making about the project. Adam is also making his BYU debut at Sydney's Backyard Ultra on the 19th September. Go Macca!

Yuko has been running Backyard Ultra's since her debut at No Time to Die in 2022 where she ran 15 yards. Since then she has run a PB at 6 of her BYU's and most recently broke the Australian Women's Backyard Ultra record by running 65 yards at Clint Eastwood Backyard Ultra.

Nikolay is the race organiser of Biotropika Backyard Ultra in Russia. Biotropika was run a few weeks ago now and is definitely the most controversial race in Backyard Ultra history. After both the male and female Backyard Ultra world records were broken, the format's creator and decision maker Gary Cantrell announced the entire race as void due to a breach in how the rules were followed.

Phil Gore is the Backyard Ultra World Champion and World Record Holder. He recently announced that he was running a Backyard Ultra style solo attempt at reaching 168 yards. Titled PROJECT 168. Phil came on to talk all about. Phil's website: www.philgore.com.au

Alex Cleary is a well known face in the Ultra running world from his work with Hardcore Harrys and involvement in the King of the Hill Livestream. Alex got his first taste of a Backyard Ultra at MVP earlier this year when he crewed for The Crow. A few weeks later Alex ran impressively at MelbOURne Frontyard where he ran 38 yards at his Backyard Debut.

Merlin came onto what he thought was going to be a usual chat on the podcast. He couldn't have been more wrong, with 6 guests dropping in along the way, all with their own special stories about Merlin and his run around Australia. This podcast was an experience.

Sam finished as the Last One Standing at his BYU debut last year at Gil's Galavant. He later went on to finish as the assist at Garden City BYU where he ran 42 yards. Sam opened 2026 with another win at Gil's Galavant and most recently he had a huge breakout performance by running 66 yards and finishing as the Last One Standing at Dead Cow Gully.

Michael ran his first Backyard Ultra in 2024 at BB Backyard and finished as the Last One Standing with 25 yards. Michael has fallen in love with the format and has improved his PB to 45 yards and in doing so, qualified for the Canadian Team which will be taking on the rest of the world in October at the Sat Champs.

Scott ran his first Backyard at Hysterical Carnage back in 2022 where he completed 15 yards. Since then Scott has run in four more Backyards, breaking 50 yards for the first time at GV last year and just last week at No Time to Die he finished as the co-assist with Jashy, completing 75 yards and placing himself 6th on the Australian At Large list.

Melbourne Frontyard Ultra was held last weekend and it turned out to be an absolute classic race. Brady Nankervis played a huge role in the race, he completed 68 yards and broke the Australian record for most yards in a Backyard Ultra Debut. It was a performance so strong it will most likely qualify Brady to run for Team Australia later this year in the Sat Champs.

Jared Webb had run in 5 Backyard Ultra's where he had broken 24 in all of them and had a PB of 31. That was till last weekend when Jared ran at Gumby and completed 50 yards to finish as the assist in an amazing performance.

Crazy ran his first Backyard Ultra last year when he ran a solid 33 yards at GV in Shepparton. Last weekend Crazy ran at Sydney's Backyard Ultra where he ran 74 yards and finished as the assist. That 74 yards places him as the 9th best Australian of all time and almost guarantees that Crazy will be running for team Australia at the Sat Champs later this year.

Patto is running at 2 Rivers Backyard Ultra on the 11th of April in Echuca. The Crow and Farms will be crewing for him so the three of them got together to discuss the race plan, tactics and all the fun stuff.

Tammy ran in her first Backyard Ultra in 2025 at Herdys when she ran 25 yards and finished as the Last Female Standing. A few months later she ran 38 yards at Red's which is a top 10 Australian female performance of all time. At Herdys recently Tammy was back with another very strong run, completing 30 yards and finishing as the Last Female Standing again for the second year running.

The Stalwart had a great backyard ultra debut in 2025 when he ran 36 yards and finished as the Assist at Wild Dog. A few months later he had another big run at GV where he ran 37 yards. Just last weekend Jason had a breakout performance at Herdys Frontyard where he ran 49 yards and finished as the co-assist.

The Warhorse has run in 10 Backyard Ultras and has a PB of 82 yards which he ran for team Australia in 2024. Last year Warhorse ran at the International BYU World Championships in Big's Backyard for the 2nd time and ran 75 yards which puts him in rare air. James has done a lot of work on his mindset in recent years and we really focussed our conversation on that side of things.

*UNSCRIPTED* - Nikolay is Director of Biotropika, which is the biggest Backyard Ultra in Russia. In 5 years, it has grown into a large, family-oriented sports festival and a key development platform for the Backyard format in the country. Three Russian records have been established on the Biotropika course, including the current Russian record of 106 yards, set by Ivan Zaborskiy.

*UNSCRIPTED* - Ruben made a massive life changing decision in 2022 which steered his life towards running and Backyard Ultra's. He absolutely loves Backyard Ultra's and ran his first in 2024 at Birdys where he ran his PB of 12 yards.

Jacob and Paul both had epic races when they ran at MVP Backyard Ultra last weekend. Jacob ran 41 very impressive yards and finished as the Last One Standing while Paul showed that he is tough as an ox with his 40 yards and the assist.