Big Dog's Backyard Ultra 2026 World Team Championship

A backyard ultra is a last-person-standing race: every competitor starts a 4.167-mile loop, called a yard, at the top of each hour and must finish it inside that hour to stay in. There is no fixed finish — the race ends when one runner completes a yard nobody else completes, and that runner is the only official finisher. Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra at Bell Buckle, Tennessee is the original, run since 2011 on Gary ‘Lazarus Lake’ Cantrell’s own land, and it sits at the top of the format’s qualifying ladder.

2026 is a World Team Championship year, which the event alternates with individual World Championship years. Racing starts at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday 17 October 2026 on the property’s trail day loop, with 450 feet of gain, switching to an asphalt night loop with 90 feet of gain after dark. Each yard completed by a team member scores one point for that country, and the nation with the most points takes the world team title. There is no scheduled cutoff; the 2023 edition ran 108 hours.

There is no open entry. Team USA is a field of 15: six winners of Silver Ticket events plus nine top at-large performers over a qualifying period running from 16 August 2024 to 15 August 2026, and entrants must be US citizens or permanent residents. Athletes who have equalled or exceeded 100 hours may apply at large. The entry fee was $250 early and $300 late. The format’s global rules apply: no pacers, no non-competitors on the course, and no personal aid during a yard.