One thing that I wondered about; how many drop out (choose to not start a next lap) as compared to DNF because they did not complete a lap fast enough? Did you start lap 29 and not get around, or did you do 28 and say, "That's it for me,"?

Watching a few of these on YouTube, I have a question about how it actually ends

Suppose we have only two competitors left at the end of Lap 36, let's say, meaning they both completed Lap 36

It's easy to see that if they both start Lap 37 and Competitor A makes it back within the hour, but Competitor B misses the cutoff, then Competitor A is your winner

However - again, after both complete Lap 36 - Competitor A answers the bell for Lap 37, but Competitor B says 'Fuck it, I'm done' does Competitor A still need to run Lap 37 or does just showing up in the corral on time count? Going further, what if B bails, A starts Lap 37 but misses the cutoff?

I'm guessing the answer would lie with each RD making that call, there's no 'official' rule book on these?

In most of the races worldwide, the "winner" must have completed 1 more loop than the first dnf. So, for example at my race, the woman who won did accomplish her 38th loop. The guy she was competing with did not complete his 38th loop within 60', so he only officially completed 37 loops. He was dnf'd and she was declared the winner. Had he of just made the cutoff time, say his 38th loop was 59:46 and he decided not to go on for a #39 loop, the woman who did win would have had to make a 39th loop within the 60' cutoff to have been declared the winner. Otherwise they both would have been scored at 38 completed loops and no winner would have been declared.

Kinda like Barkley, where everyone DNFs - most of the time, anyway

I propose that in that case, the tie-breaker would be faster last completed loop, but 2nd place does NOT get the DNF?

If it was MY race, anyway, and people insisted on a winner

YMMV

Funny thing is that the event doesn't seem to be broken, so I'm not sure why I'm trying to fix it!

Looking at the results that I have seen, the winner does one more loop and probably could do several more if necessary.

The biggest problem would be the unrelenting boredom.

I'm confidently predicting either:

a) You have quite a low boredom threshold.

b) You have never run an ultra longer than 50 miles.

c) You have never crewed for someone in an ultra.

d) Any combination of the above.

This is the Slowtwitch way



I forget who it was - Maggie Guterl, maybe? - who had already secured a win Laz's Big Backyard, but kept going just to see how far she could push it

Won my AG in quite a few IMs.

That is fun. It's a race - the object being speed - even if you are not too fast at the end.

I have also Everested on an insufficiently step hill - with no time pressure.

That was the pinnacle of unrelenting boredom. I would have quit because I couldn't handle the post midnight boredom. But my girlfriend had invested some time in spectating - so I felt I had to finish.

A race is fundamentally different from some random event where you keep going at a very slow pace until everyone else has either given up. Or really, really sucks. Or you really suck first.


I just don't think I would care enough to keep going once the sun set.

Won my AG in quite a few IMs.

That is fun. It's a race - the object being speed - even if you are not too fast at the end.

I have also Everested on an insufficiently step hill - with no time pressure.

That was the pinnacle of unrelenting boredom. I would have quit because I couldn't handle the post midnight boredom. But my girlfriend had invested some time in spectating - so I felt I had to finish.

A race is fundamentally different from some random event where you keep going at a very slow pace until everyone else has either given up. Or really, really sucks. Or you really suck first.


I just don't think I would care enough to keep going once the sun set.

Nope. Laz doesn’t allow this; when only one person finishes a lap the race is over and everyone’s done. When Maggie won in 2019 she was still feeling good and regretted that it was over; she wanted to see if she could get to 300 miles.

You fail to grasp that this is racing. Just as IM is. The difference is, because you're running a lot further than 26 miles, you're naturally running slower. But you're still pushing hard, racing strategically, making decisions, maximising efficiency, solving problems.

I appreciate the sport isn't everyone's bag, and indeed it may not be yours, but you might be surprised by how engaging it is if you checked it out, either as a competitor or working your arse off crewing for friend.

Or you could be right, you may just lack the required attention span. ;-)

Don't forget that if one should get 'bored' and let their mind wander in a trail race, one could very easily end up in the weeds, and not just a little bit banged up

So I was able to get in 28 loops for 116 miles before ringing the bell. That got me a 3rd place finish, or Loser #2 The #2 finisher didn’t make it back in time to start loop # 39. He and the woman who won are both animals!
My take-aways:
550’ gain per loop on trails is no joke
what goes up also goes down and the downs are killers
camp placement near start corral is important
have a long game mindset
should have never run loop faster than 55-57 minutes=walk it when you can
take water with you as 50 minutes is too long to be without
take food with you as 50 minutes is too long to be without
the rest gained from a sub 50’ lap is not worth it=too many matches burned
you can use the toilet during your loop
I think looking back, I should have not run as fast as I did. My quads were trashed. I was actually wanting to continue to climb hills just so I didn’t have to run anymore. The loop we were on could not be walked in 60’. My head lamp was subpar for technical rocky and rooted trails at night so I used a flashlight as well. That left me leaving my hand bottle behind during the dark. Looking back, that got me behind on fluids. I should have used a vest. The unraveling came not that long after that once the sun came out and the temp went to 80*F.
I will say, I have done a lot of races, the crew of Race Directors that are WausaUltra are top notch! I would recommend anyone to join them in the future for any type of event they might put on.
That’s my Backyard Ultra experience

@keithdunn
Chris Roberts crossed the start line to begin the 57th yard, stopped, shook hands with Steve Slaby, then dropped. Steve has to complete the yard within the hour to win the #CapitalBackyardUltra.

Steve Slaby is the last person standing and the winner of the 2021 #CapitalBackyardUltra, earning a golden ticket to the #BigDogUltra this October.