Amanda Nelson wins second straight Persistence Backyard Ultra
Canada's 100-mile record holder called her 32-hour, 214-km effort near London, Ont. on the weekend "the best ultra I have raced to date"
Photo by:
Cricket Scott
Amanda Nelson successfully defended her title at the Persistence Backyard Ultra near London, Ont., over the weekend, outlasting 56 other runners by covering 214 kilometres in 32 hours in a race she called “the best ultra I have raced to date.”
The backyard ultra format requires participants to start one 6.706-km “yard” (loop) every hour on the hour until all runners but one either voluntarily drop out or fail to complete a loop. (Backyard racing is designed so that theoretically, runners can complete the 100-mile distance in 24 hours.) Once all other competitors are out of the race, the remaining runner must complete one final lap, making any record attempt both a team effort and an individual one.
Nelson, who finished one yard shy of her course-record-setting win at last year’s inaugural Persistence Backyard Ultra, won this year’s race with an assist from 20-year-old Jean-Gabriel Gagnon of Lévis, Que., who began the 32nd loop with Nelson and immediately returned to camp. Going the distance with them for most of the race was Krista Allen, 43, of Collingwood, Ont., who held out for 30 yards.
Nelson, of Woodstock, Ont., showed she had plenty left in the tank as she ran her final lap to clinch the win Sunday afternoon, punctuating her victory by running her 32nd yard in just 33:02. In a post on Instagram, Nelson wrote the race was “the best ultra I have raced to date. I didn’t have a single issue the whole time! No pain, no chaffing, no GI issues. Nothing! I felt amazing and still do. Even the tape I did before the 214km of running stayed put!”
That says a lot considering her impressive ultrarunning resume. The 34-year-old holds the women’s 12-hour Canadian record (135.072 km), the 100-mile Canadian record (14:45:51) and the 24-hour Canadian soil record (227.33 km).
In May, she broke her Canadian women’s backyard ultra record by running 375.51 km over 56 hours at the Race of Champions-Backyard Masters in Rettert, Germany.
Nelson told Canadian Running she next plans on tackling the That Dam Hill 24-hour race in London, Ont., next month.
Following her latest victory, Nelson was for the second year presented the coveted checkered “Laz jacket”—named after Laz Lake (a.k.a. Gary Cantrell), who created the backyard ultra format—by Persistence Backyard Ultra race director Neil McKay. Nelson, in turn, presented it to Gagnon as thanks for providing her with “the crucial assist” this year.
That gesture, said McKay, was just one of many examples illustrating how supportive backyard ultra runners are to one another.
“In addition to being amazed by the drive and determination of the runners, we continue to be blown away and amazed by the spirit and sense of community that the backyard ultra brings out from the athletes, crews and volunteers,” said McKay.
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