Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert, the Belgian duo, set an individual record in their backyard ultra race for the third time. Despite the lack of a team championship win in 2026, each runner completes 124 laps and covers 516.7 miles (831.5 km) over more than five days.
Their performance surpasses the previous record held by an Australian runner, Phil Gore. He had set the mark at 119 laps at the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra 2025, and Geerts and Steyaert improve the total by five laps, also equivalent to 20.8 miles (33.5 kilometres).
The race runs under a precise format in which runners start again every hour for a lap. The Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra World Team Championships begins on Saturday 17 October at 7 a.m. U.S. Central Daylight Time, with teams of 15 runners and 990 participants from 67 countries.
The rules lead to an outcome with no winner if the last two withdraw on the final lap. Geerts and Steyaert finish together on the 124th lap and choose not to start the next one; as both finalists also bow out on the last lap, no winner is declared.
