Big Tex Backyard 2026

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, until one runner completes a yard nobody else completes. Big Tex Backyard is an official affiliate race organised independently by Trail Racing Over Texas, not by the championship organisation, and runs from 7:00 a.m. on Saturday 7 November 2026 at Stephen F. Austin State Park in San Felipe, Texas.

It is one of the few affiliates with a dedicated rucking division. Last Rucker Standing is new for 2026 and runs a shorter loop on the same hourly schedule, with ruck weight set at 20 pounds for entrants under 150 pounds of bodyweight and 30 pounds for those over. Both Last Runner Standing and Last Rucker Standing are $149.40 including fees, rising after 18 October. A free Lil Tex Kids K for ages 1 to 14 runs Saturday from noon to 12:30 p.m., with registration opening 1 October.

Registration is on RunSignup and the field cap is 300. Pacers are not allowed, as the backyard format requires; crew are limited to the start and finish areas between yards, with no aid of any kind once a competitor is on course, and one or two crew may stay overnight in the grass support area. Twenty-four yards earns a 100-mile buckle and the winner receives a dollar per mile run. RunSignup states this is a Bronze Ticket race on the road to the 2027 Silver Ticket races; the organizer’s own site describes that status as applied for rather than confirmed, so treat it as unconfirmed. Note that the official affiliate list still carries a stale October date for this race — 7 November is the date published by both the race director and RunSignup.