2026 Backyard Ultra World Championships – UK Team Round Up

I was lucky enough to be involved in possible the best backyard ultra event that has ever taken place in the UK. Rasselbock’s Eric and Jonathon Keeler were the race directors for the UK team this year, Sherwood Pines was the venue. (A course I know very well as until this event, I held the female course record of 50 yards!) Honestly, even a week after the event I’m still on running extravaganza overload. What an incredible 5 days.

Let’s rewind a little as to why I was present at the event. 2025 was a rollercoaster year for me, I secured a seemingly firm spot on the at large list in March 2025 with 50 yards. However, as the rest of the qualification year unfolded, the sport saw an influx of quality runners achieve outstanding results, By the time Red In happened, I’d been moved down to the 15th spot, by the time the final qualification race of the year at Moar’s Scouts Honour happened, I was firmly on the reserve list, position 20! Shortly after my 50 yards, I had booked an Airbnb for the duration of the championships just in case I was still on the team. There was no way I would miss this event and I was delighted to go along and help out where needed.

On Saturday before the race stated, I said hi to all the team members and introduced myself to the ones I hadn’t met, letting them know that I could step in either as relief crew or crew whenever necessary. Alex Sweet had already ‘booked’ me in for a few hours on Sunday, he had crewed me at Longbridge so I was delighted to have the opportunity to return the favour.

The event was just so much fun. Anyone who is anyone in BYU was at that event, a who’s who of the BYU community. It was just so much fun, hanging out with friends both old and new. I particularly likes seeing so many BYU race directors all in one place. It was so nice to chat to them for longer periods of time, usually it will just be for a few seconds in-between yards.

Here are some of my highlights from the event:

• Being relief crew for Alex Sweet on day 2 and then being included in the crew dinner that evening at a local pub and hearing his tales from the trails.
• I finally got to meet Sarah Perry and have our UK female number 1 and number 2 photo together.
• I witnessed people push themselves to their limits. 9 people had to be removed from the course by car, one of which went to hospital (all was fine).
• I crewed the winner Dave from Monday evening through to his 90 hour finish.
• A surreal experience was hanging out with Dave Phillips and Matthew Blackburn post race in Dave’s tent as they were reliving everything, true backyard royalty.
• I got to meet legendary photographer David Miller who had the not yet released Spine album with him, he talked through the whole album, discussing how he captured the shots and pointing out his favourite areas within some of the images. David helped me crew Dave for a couple of yards too, on his advice I made cheese and pickle sandwiches (which Dave did not end up eating!) and he captured a spectacular photo of me massaging Dave’s thigh (surely every runner’s dream is to be in a David Miller photo, just I wasn’t running!)
• Seeing my friends push for PBs and in some cases smash them out the park! IN particular, Andy W, Phil and Alun.
• A funny story from the trail, after being told multiple times by his crew to take it off, Andy W still had his dry robe on after the whistle went, this meant he had to carry it around the course. The wonderful Rob ended yo carrying it for Andy by tucking it into his pack.
• Witnessing Dave and Matthew playing two games of darts in between yards.
• Trying to fit in a 60 minute run each day when all I wanted to do was be back at camp watching the event! Luckily I joined in on the Kiprun Decathlon guided run lovely Steven joined me for a run.
• Team Ireland ran and finished their race, team member Peter Johnston flew back home to England and came to spectate… team UK were still running!
• The was a sag when Eric and Jonathon thought that the number 8 trophy had gone missing… we checked photos taken from day one and it transpired that the number eight trophy had never been unpacked.
• The lovely Lisa from Walkers Catering created the ‘Lizzie Special’ – chips, cheese, veggie chilli and halloumi!
• I was asked by Andy W to bring my shoe dryer from Save Our Soles… this was a great idea as it good used extensively! Once shoes were dry, hats and gloves were put on to it! LizzieG20 for a 20% discount.
• Discovering tips and trick from each of the team’s crew… this will need to be revealed in another blog post.

Here are the top three tips from some of the UK team runners:

Andy Miles’ Top 3 Tips at Backyard Ultra

1. Bank sleep as early as possible
2. Train your stomach to eat anything and everything at all times of the day
3. More important to have a crew that understands you as a person rather than running

Tal Taran Top 3 Tips at Backyard Ultra

1. DON’T SLEEP IN A TINY BED. 
2. Protect your glutes at all cost. 
3. Take a physio with you where ever you go!

Dave Phillips Top 3 Tips at Backyard Ultra

1. Keep smiling
2. Chat to people
3. Don’t stop!

Andy Wilson’s Top 3 Tips at Backyard Ultra

1. Slow down when your legs feel fresh. They’ll thank you for it later.
2. Close your eyes as early as possible and get your feet up.
3. Practice different scenarios with your crew i.e 10 mins, 5 mins and 1 min turn arounds. Work out what is critical and what can be done out on yard.

Alun Rose’s Top 3 Tips at Backyard Ultra

1.  I found deep breathing useful to try and reset at the end of a yard. 
2. The other thing I am going to work on is trying to sleep more as physically I think I could of continued but my mind had gone due to lack of sleep.
3. I would say keeping that constant intake of fluids is a great tip for anyone starting. 

I think the funniest thing I saw was Andy Wilson on the massage table, I was in tears when that popped up on Instagram!

UK Team Results

The UK placed 5/67 with 939 yards.

See the world results here: Big’s World Championship

Podcast

Aid Station Podcast: Backyard World Champs UK Team Front Seat View from Lizzie

The Selfie Wall!

Race Director Selfie Wall

Massage and Physio Teams

These guys worked around the clock, even giving massages to crew members (thank you Jim!).

More photos from the event