Three Canadians make the cut for backyard ultra individual world championships

Canadian ultrarunners Ihor Verys, Eric Deshaies and Amanda Nelson have made the cut for Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra Individual World Championships, which will see 75 competitors from 38 countries try to outlast each other one loop at a time in Short Creek, Tenn., this October.

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.

The individual world championships will begin Oct. 21 at the Big Farm, the property of race directory and backyard-ultra format creator Laz Lake (a.k.a. Gary Cantrell), and the Canadian contenders appear poised to give all challengers a run for their money with some strong performances under their belts.

Canada’s contenders

Leading the pack is Verys. Originally from Ukraine and now based in Chilliwack, B.C., Verys ran a backyard-ultra personal best of 67 loops, or just under 450 kilometres, while competing for Canada at the Backyard Ultra World Team Championships in Summerland, B.C., last October. Earlier this month, Verys shot to the top of the podium at the Canadian Death Race in Grande Cache, Alta., finishing the 118K course in 12:36:11—just 16 minutes shy of the course record. Verys has been toppling podiums across the country, notably taking first place at Fat Dog 120 in 2022.

Deshaies, a veteran ultrarunner from Gatineau, Que., racked up his personal best of 66 yards—just over 442 km—when giving Verys the crucial assist at last year’s Backyard Ultra World Team Championships. He was the last Canadian standing at the 2021 individual world championships in Tennessee, where he finished 50 yards (335 km). He’s earned top-10 finishes at races like Moab 240, Badwater 135 and the North Face Endurance Challenge 50 miler.

Nelson will be looking to build on a string of sensational performances, most recently at the Persistence Backyard Ultra near London, Ont., earlier this month, where she completed 32 yards (just under 215 km) to successfully defend her championship (she ran 33 yards at the inaugural even in 2022). 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 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).

Others to watch

While the list of 75 runners competing at the individual world championships is full of veteran and emerging ultrarunning talent, two pairs of runners stand out. Phil Gore of Perth, Australia, the backyard ultra world record holder, ran an astounding 102 yards (nearly 685 km) at the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra in Queensland, Australia in June. He’ll be toeing the start line in Tennessee with Sam Harvey of New Zealand, who ran 101 yards at the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra to provide Gore the assist.

Also coming to Tennessee are former backyard world record holders Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert, the duo who astounded the running world last October by running 101 yards at the Backyard Ultra Team World Championships in Belgium. Perhaps nearly as shocking as their triple-digit yard count was their decision to end the race together, thereby registering a world record while at the same time recording DNFs. After the race, they explained they had decided during their 101st lap that with all the distressing things happening in the world, they wanted to end this event with positivity. “On this occasion, it was the right decision and a special moment,” said Geerts.