Ep 40 - Double Backyards from Suffolk to Faccombe Yeehaa!

In this episode Kev gets in the Tennessee vibe as he tackles two Backyard Ultras

https://challenge-running.com/suffolk-back-yard-ultra/

https://www.and-overtrailevents.com/faccombe-backyard-ultra

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Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:13

I can say it. Next I just don't show it.

SPEAKER_04 0:55

Yeah! As this ultra running format of backyard is from Tennessee, I thought we'd better have some good old country through the show. Or is it bluegrass? All I know is that some grisly old hillbilly geezer from Bellbuckle, Tennessee decided it would be a good idea to test an athlete's physical and mental limits by running a four mile loop around his backyard and it seems to have caught on I say this is a missing episode because it's out of sync with my running calendar. I should have got this out in June, but things did not go to plan with my race prep. Episode 38 covered all you need to know about Backyard Ultra format and was supposed to be followed up by this episode, but things didn't go well for me in the build-up to my race, and to be honest, I lost my podcasting mojo around the event. Aiming at staying out there for two days, 48 yards or hours, uh, which would have qualified me for the UK team of the world team satellite championships. Six weeks out I had some dental work done. I needed two uh implants in my lower jaw, and uh it wasn't until the dentist started drilling into my jawbone that he discovered I'd got what he described as a type 4, I think, um uh bone density in the jaw. He said it was like drilling into granite. Um, and boy did I pay for it. I had about two weeks of pain um afterwards, it took about two weeks for it to settle down. Uh and during this time I also took on quite a bit of physical labour, which was removing uh plastic artificial lawn from a stepson's house up in London, which to be honest left me totally drained. And then on top of all that, the last day in London, I contracted a gastrointestinal bug that lasted about six days. Uh during that time I lost two kilos in weight and was completely spent and depleted. With about 24 hours to go before the race, the bug finally cleared. And I only decided to uh start the backyard as I gained a nice amount of sponsorship money um for free-to-be kids on how many laps I would do. So I felt that I should get out there and at least do justice to the charity and to those people that had kindly sponsored me. I'm sorry to be graphic about this, but I only had my first solid bowel movement at a service station on the way to Suffolk. I was happy to tell you that I was really pleased about this beforehand, because I hate to think what it would be like when I got there. I mean, as it turns out, um they positioned the porter loos uh right near the start uh and finish line, which is the same place, so you could either use the loo on the way in at the end of a lap, or on the way out at the start of a lap, which was uh quite useful. Anyway, having packed enough provisions and running gear for four days and the car fully loaded with all my important gear, including a zero gravity chair, uh I set off on the three and a half hour journey to Deepest Suffolk, the nearest place that England has to good old Tennessee, and the Suffolk Backyard Ultra run by Lindley Chambers, the nearest thing that England has got to Lazarus Lake. At this point, I have to give a big shout out to my grandson Harry, who owns a brilliant collapsible trolley, which uh he kindly lent me along with a camp table with its own storage. So they were two excellent pieces of kit for a backyard ultra, and I didn't realise that they were going to be so useful when he offered them to me. We hauled all the gear on uh Harry's trolley over to the site, and when I got there, Paul Telfin and his wife Fran had already set up their tent, which was a four-person tent, and we all got our kit across there. Uh their stove was set up, so pretty much ready to go and get registered, which was 11:30 a.m. in the morning, because we had a 12 o'clock start, midday start for the event. Uh the campsite was very cozy with loads of tents all squeezed into the field around the starting corral. They call it a starting corral because it's American. And it created a great atmosphere with loads of runners out for a fun time while testing their limits and uh aiming some of them to reach specific goals or targets. Uh Linley gave his pref briefing, and then with three minutes to go, we got the first of the whistle blasts that count down to each hour. Uh these whistles, along with a bell ringing for competitors who DNF, become the main signals and sounds of the event. You get a three-minute whistle, two-minute whistle, and a one-minute whistle before you are off at the start of each hour. That was the two-minute whistle for the Suffolk Backyard Ultra. There are three whistles three-minute, two-minute, and one minute. And there's 250 odd people, or there was 271 registered, and I guess at least 250 are going to be going. And the weather's set fair, it's quite mild, a little bit of occasional sunshine, a bit breezy, but everything's fine. We're all set up in camp. I'm here with Paul Telford, his wife, and a mate of Paul's called Tex, who I'll be talking to later because this is his very first backyard, and he's never run more than 16 miles, so that'd be interesting. And I intend starting right at the back and taking it very easy for the first few laps. I've had horrendous build up to this week. That was a one-minute whistle. There's all sorts of people here. There's groups of running clubs, triathlon clubs, individuals on their own, the tents, I'm crewed, uh, a really good mix, bunch of people, all sorts of running shapes and sizes that are all giving this as a go, which looks to me to be a brilliant part of this format of the sport. So we are now, I've got 12 o'clock. There we go, we're off. Literally ambling over the line. Just walking. Tiny little bit of jogging for nine minutes forty now and come to a dead stop with a big cue at a gate, which makes it all very interesting. Um, so this is quite a good timing point for later on to know how long it takes to get here. You could walk here in ten minutes, um, so it's a good indicator, and I'll take on this first lap, I'm gonna take an indicator at every 10-minute interval and use that as a benchmark. So this is gonna be a really slow lap, and I want a really slow lap anyway. Well, I want loads of slow laps, but the first one is gonna be a good marker, although we're gonna have to do a bit of jogging after this, not to lose too much time. That's the first lap completed in 53 minutes and a few seconds. Um I was really surprised how easy it is to walk round. I'd only ever done one backyard distance loop from my house just to see what it was like. Um, and on this course it's an absolute doddle. Uh I was at the back of the field going through the first gate because it's a huge queue, and with a guy from the REF who's literally speed walking. Admittedly, he's quite quick, and I have to jog now and again to keep up with him, but he's walking round at a 14-minute mile pace and doing it quite easy. So I had time to sit down, have a little drink, bag of crisps, grab a sweet, and it was off again. Um, two already rang the bell after the first lap. So I think some people just turn up to say they'd had a go at a backyard ultra, fair enough. Maybe they were local. And um that's it really. The course is beautiful, it's it's all through lovely woodland across a little bit of open moorland grassland. The grassland area is quite wet, um, but you know, nothing like uh moorland or bogs or anything like that. Um surface water, but nothing that you're gonna sink in. Um obviously it's gonna get churned up with 250 people going round it for a while. But yeah, it's it's all easy. The weather's great, it's only about 14-15 degrees. Um there's some sun about now and again, quite windy, but that doesn't really matter, keeps it cool. Um yeah, so all good. Um I have to say I wasn't I'm deliberately going very, very slim. I'm talking at the back of the field at the moment on that two. Um and I'm if I carried on like this I would miss the cutoff. Um I'm not even at mile two yet. Uh so but I shall jog that out when I get uh up to mile marker number two. Um and that's it really at the moment, not much else to report really. Uh probably get fed up with a trail, but you know, it's pretty enough at the moment. Uh, even catching five or ten minutes with the top guys and the gals, because that's the one thing about this uh format is that you get to run with all the people uh of all abilities in this event. You all start out together at the start of each hour. Um but all that went out the window um because it wasn't long before I realised that I wasn't in a real fit state to give this event a really good go or justice or get round in any sort of time. Um and I ended up going round in like about fifty-two or five-two to fifty-five minutes each time, um, and not really running with people uh that I wanted to get interviewed. I was more concentrated on just getting round each lap um and having a bit of time in the chair to be able to recover. Uh Paul Telford was going round in around 47 minutes a lap to start with for about the first ten or so laps, and I was about seven minutes behind him. Uh so I got him to slow down so that I could get a recording with him, because I've never got Paul on the podcast. Um and now there is not normally any swearing on this podcast, or not a lot of it, unless I fall over uh mid-race and smash my face into a mountain, which has been known. Uh but for some reason I got a bit potty-mouthed in the company of Paul, who went the other way and was very polite. Um, so my apologies in advance for my swearing, and also to my grandson Harry, who has recommended this podcast to a couple of his more athletic teachers at school who are interested in ultrarunning, so I don't want to embarrass him. Here it is, this is what uh Paul and I had to say. It doesn't really do Paul justice, and I will get him back on to talk more about his ultra running background. But this is where we were at during the race.

SPEAKER_01 15:37

Lap four four? Uh no, five, isn't it? Lot five.

SPEAKER_04 15:42

Lap five, lost count already.

SPEAKER_01 15:44

Seven minutes past four in the room.

SPEAKER_04 15:46

Yeah, it's now four o'clock here in the afternoon. So I'm running along with Paul Telford, an old mucker of mine that I met on the 2021 Dragons Bat race. I've mentioned it before on the podcast, crossing the road at Penny Pass.

SPEAKER_01 16:04

But you said you regret now.

SPEAKER_04 16:06

Yeah, I do, yeah. Why didn't I tell you just to piss off at the time? And uh I just thought I was one of the last through the uh checkpoint there, and uh I wasn't.

SPEAKER_01 16:23

You weren't because I came through with three minutes to go or something.

SPEAKER_04 16:26

Yeah, you slow knob. And uh and I collapsed on the verge on the other side of the road just thank goodness to get through. It was scorching out, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 16:37

Yeah, it was horrible.

SPEAKER_04 16:38

And uh and Paul had the number 118, and there was a picture of him in the full Dave Bedford 118 gear at one point on the Facebook page, so I recognised him. Of course, he wasn't wearing the Dave Bedford hair and the tash. I did consider it, yeah, but he did have 118 on. So I um said, Oh, you're Mr. Telford or something, 118, and that was it.

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Yeah, that's right. Yeah, we couldn't just like to shake hands at elbow or fist bump, that's all I remember. In my delirium.

SPEAKER_04 17:16

And I was already dying, my race was more or less done. And Paul encouraged me up over Crib Gog. And uh then pissed off and left me as his style. And then we've run together since uh um Great Lakeland 3 Day where again I had to help him out undo his zip. It was a jacket, is it?

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Yeah, can you run to him, is it?

SPEAKER_01 17:49

There's a story about that though, isn't it? Because you because you didn't quite know where we were that day, did you? I thought you were an expert navigating it. Your navigation consists of falling other people pretty much, that's what it is.

SPEAKER_04 18:01

I'm only your mate because you're ex-military. I thought that guy will know how to get around.

SPEAKER_01 18:08

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:12

Okay, in all seriousness, um Paul has since gone on to run the 2022 one, which we both had very similar races in, except he didn't headbutt triff him, but he only missed half half a day, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_01 18:29

Yeah, yeah, I um I started retired at Combooken, didn't I?

SPEAKER_04 18:33

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:33

Got in time and retired like an idiot, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:36

And then we both went on and did the next four days, which was great anyway. Full days, four full days, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:42

I'll point that out.

SPEAKER_04 18:43

Yeah, yeah. So and then he's absolutely got the bug for it. He went back in 23. Which was a big mistake, and it was really hot again, and um and he's entered this year.

SPEAKER_01 18:58

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 18:59

So how did you get into all this simple?

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Oh Gordon Bennett. Uh part running. Oh really? Yeah. Well, Fran and I started part running, and that was pretty much it. We just did part runs and then we both kind of slowly increased our distances over a few years, and obviously you do a part run, then it's a 10k, then it's a half marathon. Yeah, and it's oh I think I'll try a little marathon, you know.

SPEAKER_04 19:25

Yeah, and uh so how quickly did you go from part run to running your first ultra then?

SPEAKER_01 19:31

Oh, I was doing part running in about 2015, but I didn't actually run my first marathon because it came up on Facebook the other day until four or five years ago. Yeah, it's about four and a half years ago, just before it was the year before Dragons Bat.

SPEAKER_04 19:44

Oh wow, yeah, and they say you jumped straight into Dragons Bat.

SPEAKER_01 19:48

I did an ultra first, I did uh an ul an ultra in Suffolk, a 32 mile in Suffolk. Oh wow, yeah. All the training.

SPEAKER_02 19:56

Yeah, that's it. I'm I'm doing Dragon's Back, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 20:00

Well, because I saw it on Amazon, didn't I? So I was like, oh yeah, this looks like fun. And I realised the true horror of it when I finally stepped foot in Wales for the first time. So that was that, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:10

So, in all seriousness, what what do you really think about the race? Because secretly I love it, but Dragon's Back, yeah. It's amazing, isn't it?

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Yeah, it's just um well as you know, once you get out on the hills, it's such a I suppose privilege to get out there and see things that most people don't see, all the yeah, all the paths and tracks that nobody runs on, etc. It's just amazing to make it laugh.

SPEAKER_04 20:34

Yeah, yeah, I love it.

SPEAKER_01 20:35

When are you going back?

SPEAKER_04 20:37

Uh well as my wife doesn't listen to this podcast, yeah. Sometime. Sometime, but I don't know when, it won't be this year, certainly.

SPEAKER_00 20:47

Well, it might be this year for me if this um if this all if I do too many laps on that, too many yards on this.

SPEAKER_04 20:52

No, you'll have loads of time to recover.

SPEAKER_00 20:54

I could completely blow up.

SPEAKER_04 20:56

So this is your first backyard, same as me, yeah?

SPEAKER_00 20:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 21:00

And what's the view so far?

unknown 21:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

Uh it's alright, isn't it? Bit of a social.

SPEAKER_04 21:06

Yeah? Yeah, it's a bit of a social. It doesn't get serious for 24 hours, probably.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

I was just saying when we were stu when we were starting the camp, we're not we wouldn't even be at uh we won't even be at Ogwin by now, and we've already done what four hours. Yeah, that's right. We'll start eating cheese sandwiches and jump sandwiches.

SPEAKER_04 21:21

So yeah, we were joking beforehand, it's more like a fishing trip with the tents and all the gear and humping the stuff through from the car park. Yeah, hundreds of something. It's like going all night fishing. Anyway, so and we've got um Paul's wife's with us, Fran, who's actually crewing three of us, which is doing an incredible job at the moment.

SPEAKER_01 21:43

Our colleague is somewhere ahead of us, Tex.

SPEAKER_04 21:46

Yeah, yeah, we I have to catch up with Tex sometime. Tex is a mate of Paul's. Paul, tell tell everybody about Tex.

SPEAKER_01 21:54

Oh, so um, I don't know where to start with it. Uh I uh so when I When Kev signed up for this event, I signed up for it a few weeks later when I found out Kev was on it. And then just wandering through the office at work, I happened to mention it to Tex. So uh Tex decided on the whims to enter it, and then he got me on the reserve, and then he watched a video and was like, alright, okay. Uh yeah, so Tex was only, I think it's I say only. That's a bit flippant, but um, I think the furnace has run 16 miles in an event, so this loop we're doing this yard we're doing now will be his personal distance record. So um we're under pressure not to be beaten by Tex, but he's currently about half a mile ahead of us, yeah, which is an interesting tactic, but I'm gonna see how it pans out in the long run.

SPEAKER_04 22:39

Pretty much the same as you, I reckon, Kev.

SPEAKER_01 22:41

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 22:41

Well, Paul's been doing 46 minute laps, and Tex has been coming in about two or three minutes before him.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

Yeah, easily.

SPEAKER_04 22:48

And he's eating his food and ready to go again before Paul gets in, and certainly before I get there.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

But so I'm having a lap with Kev now.

SPEAKER_04 22:57

Yeah, this is the only way I could get an interview with him to tell him to slow down.

SPEAKER_01 23:00

But I threatened him if we were time out, then I don't know what I'm gonna do, but I reckon we'll be alright.

SPEAKER_04 23:05

We're not gonna time out because our last year's winner is just in front of us. Yeah. Guy who knows how to pace his race. I mean, he's got to be heading for breaking the record, I would have thought.

SPEAKER_01 23:21

I thought. Was that not your plan? Well, it was.

SPEAKER_04 23:28

But yeah, I'm just keeping an eye on Ariel, that's all.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

So where is he? I can't see him. He's got the lumberjack shirt. Oh, yeah, I see him. We're about 30 seconds behind the inferior all you uh all listeners out there.

SPEAKER_04 23:46

So at some point we're gonna be running with him when everybody drops out.

SPEAKER_01 23:51

That's the plan, isn't it? Yeah, that's the plan. According to you, that wasn't the plan. You were gonna do about six or seven and drop out. Tell him what's been up with you. Come on, I've got to tell him.

SPEAKER_04 24:01

I've already told him.

SPEAKER_01 24:02

Alright, yeah. I've got me excuses in straight away from Kev's been messaging me for the past week telling me that oh he's he can't he can't keep what was it? You can't eat oh you're weak. Um was it zero sympathy or next to zero sympathy?

SPEAKER_04 24:17

Yeah, well, of course, yeah. I mean it was never gonna happen, was it? Well, not just from me.

SPEAKER_01 24:21

Our little chat group's been the same, haven't they?

SPEAKER_04 24:23

Yeah, oh god, what a group that is. They're brutal.

SPEAKER_01 24:28

Brutal outright group that though. Didn't they say something about you don't let Paul beat you because you're never at the end of it? That was something like that, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_04 24:35

Yeah, it was, yeah. I think they all know who's gonna actually last the longest.

SPEAKER_01 24:39

Who's that?

SPEAKER_02 24:46

I cannot believe it. I'm 15 years in studio and he thinks it's gonna be, mate. It's just not gonna happen, Kevin.

SPEAKER_04 24:54

End of interview.

SPEAKER_01 25:02

Yeah, let's walk.

SPEAKER_04 25:03

Do what the pro does. Well, I'll speak to you later, Paul. Yeah, yeah. Because you it would be out here in the dark.

SPEAKER_01 25:13

Speakers on a tangle later. Yeah. About two yards time. We need to catch text. Let's start on the next one. We'll do is we'll make him go slow. Make him go slow.

SPEAKER_04 25:25

Yeah, because he he'll he'll have achieved his record. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

So that'll be entertaining, won't it? It will. So yeah, yeah, tune in a bit listening listen to one.

SPEAKER_04 25:35

Well, yeah, that's past a mile and a half, but you later. And my slowest was lap nineteen, when I did a fifty-seven fifty-three, so uh in nearly inside two minutes to get turned around. Uh overall I averaged fifty-five minutes forty-one seconds per lap, so around four minutes of rest after each yard. Part of my race plan was to channel my era Claire Bandworth. Now, those a lot of you on here won't know who Claire Banworth is, but she's a French woman who is known for grinding out the mile hour after hour in these backyard events. A very good ultra runner. She was the past female winner of the spine race, and she came third at TGG in as Tour de Gion in 2023, I think. Yards. She does endless 55-minute laps every time, and she did hold the French backyard record of 61 yards or 61 hours, which she set at Suffolk. Um, I think that was also in 23, maybe in 22. Uh so I thought that's quite a if she can use that system, then so can I, and so that's really what I set out to do was just to get round around about 55 minutes each lap. Really was grinding it out and struggling around about lap 17. I think Paul uh dropped and DNF'd, um, and then he joined Fran, his wife, in helping support me, uh, which was really kind of them. Um, I really did discover that you really do need a support crew on these events. Difference, especially if you're on a very tight schedule and you've got about four minutes to turn around each time, it makes a really big difference having somebody already prepped your food or made your cup of tea or got you whatever you need time and really does put you in a better mood or frame of mind to get back out there again if you haven't got to do it all yourself. About 22 hours in, uh, I got a load of encouragement from Stephen Cousins who runs Film My Run, he's a YouTuber. Um, and you'll have seen some of his films if you ever see any of the backyard Suffolk Backyard ones he's covered the last couple, and he was making a film along with his wife Victoria at this event. Did to me come on, I expect to see you out there for 24, and it did give me a lift. So um, after 24 hours, I got a Paul Hollywood style handshake from Lindley as I crossed the line, and Lindley said to me, just one more, and that's how I felt at the time. Um I'd done 24, I'd got the hundred miles done, it was quite a push, uh, but I thought, yeah, I'll go out for one more because a lot of people do drop at 24 hours, it seems to be a target for a lot of people. And interestingly enough, 11 dropped out on the 24th lap, and didn't uh the 25th. Further eight, including me, dropped or did not start lap 26. So uh at that point things started to get really serious, and there were 27 competitors remaining at this point, um uh out of over 230 odd starters. So the field had reduced quite considerably, as you can see, and a lot of them in it were club athletes, triathlon clubs, people having a good time running in groups, which was really nice to see, but clearly they got their own personal targets. Um, and I'd say that the 27 that were left in there were serious about going a long way. And once I sat in the chair for the start of Lap 26, I got interviewed by Stephen from Film My Run, which thanks to Fran Telford, uh reminded me my brain was gone by then, of course, uh allowed me to promote my fundraising for free to be kids. Now I've thanked everyone individually who sponsored me, but I'd just like to say a big thank you to all those who donated, and together we raised over 1,400 pounds for them, which is a wonderful sum of money and something that will be really useful to help them get kids out of inner London and out into the countryside over the next summers uh to come. So, all things considered, I was happy to get 25 yards done. Um, I I really do feel that there would have uh I could have gone further, I'd have liked to have got in at least a 30, but I build up didn't get me in that position to be able to do that, so I was quite happy to have got 25. And I must thank again Fran and Paul for setting up camp and crewing me throughout the race and breaking down camp and their support uh was really really good, and I would highly recommend that you get yourself a good crew if you're gonna take on one of these events. And after the awful camp breakdown, which is really tough when you've done 25 hours and you've been awake for getting on for 48, the unload and load back into the car, take everything down, is a real chore, I can tell you at the end of that. And I fell asleep in my chair in the car park, um, managed I dozed off for 90 minutes, and I woke and I drove home and I ate and I went to bed for 10 hours and I got up and the leaders were still out there at it. And eventually the winner was a Polish guy called Lucas Warbel, who ran 88 yards or 88 hours, which was a new Polish record, and the help of Matt Blackburn, who is called the assist in this event, you need somebody to keep going with you, you can't run on your own, and Matt set a new British record of 87 yards. So well done to Matt. So when I got home, um I had some reflection about it, was became a bit disappointed, and I said I lost a bit of interest around doing a podcast about it because I didn't feel like I'd been able to achieve what I could do or felt I could do, um, and uh wasn't too happy with the result, and I mulled it over and decided to have a another crack at a backyard ultra. Um so I chose to enter a very low-key local affair uh that take place that takes place near Andover in Hampshire, but it has some serious elevation at over 700 feet per yard or lap or every 4.1 miles, called the Fakum Backyard Ultra, and it was six weeks after Suffolk, so probably not enough of a recovery given the elevation on this one and the previous state I was in. But I just felt I'd wanted to do something else uh and get that out of my system. Uh decided that I'd fly under the radar and not make a big deal about it, just run it for myself, didn't bother with any crew, and it was handy to get into at the last minute, and handy enough for the logistics because it was local, and I'd I as I said I didn't get a crew, so just rocked up. The event actually is formerly known as the Lincolnhold Backyard Ultra, and it's the race I crewed on for Lizzie Gather in 2022, which I covered in episode 17 of the AidStation podcast. So if you want to catch up with that one, uh want to hear more about uh running backyards, uh episode 17's the one. So I'm not sure that I really had a why for this, other than there was something nagging away with at me that I wanted to have another go at it. And so I rocked up and in pouring rain at the start, set up in a gazebo provided by the event organisers who are Andover events. That's AND O VER. You can see what they did there with Andover, and I was in the uh gazebo with two young guys, one was from Tahoe, and we had a good old conversation about the Tahoe event as a Tahoe 200, which he was trying to encourage me to have a go at sometime. Not sure that I'll use the flying hours, but it'd be a wonderful event to do. And both were giving the backyard their first try, so it was interested to see, and they were obviously grilling me about what I'd done before, um, and trying to see they turned up with plenty of food between the two of them, so they were pretty well organised in terms of their dietary requirements. The Fakum backyard starts at 6 pm, whereas the Suffolk one started at midday. So even though it was in July, early July, uh it's not so long before you're on the head torch. Uh so I decided I'd start at my usual slow pace. I mean, the first lap's always a sort of marker. Um, you get you're picking up points around the course where you need to be at to get round uh within the time. And I took around 54 minutes to do the first one, knowing that it was a very hilly course as well. And I kept that up for three laps, doing around 54-55 minutes, adopting the same tactic. The lads were always in the gazebo before I got there, it was still pouring with rain. And um adopting the same tactic was one Vicky Owens who kept to this tactic and maintained it throughout the event to great effect, as you'll hear later. Uh, but on lap four, the race starts with a very steep downhill, which is quite a nice opener, leg stretcher to get you going, and two went off out quite fast, um, and I got a bit of a rush of blood to the head. I do like descending, and I set the descending loose, caught these two at the bottom of the dip, and then ran hard up the hill the other side and kept going, and was out in front, so I thought, well, I'll keep pushing on here, and then about three miles in I got caught by two fast guys, and we ran together for a little bit, and then another big downhill came where I took off again. They didn't seem to be fussed about descending quickly, and to be honest, I gave it everything, and then you go straight up the steepest hill on the course, up the other side, and I hammered it up there and got in first, which was totally pointless. Uh, it took me 44 minutes. I plonked down in my chair and thought, what the F was that all about? Uh, you've just blown this, you idiot. Uh, but I really did like the feeling of giving it some beans for a change. But I basically just sat there for 15 minutes, um recovering, had a little bit to eat and a drink, but thinking why would you have done that? And also noticed how much sitting around you do before you start again, and you do start to tighten up a bit. So I'm not so sure for me that even if I could run that fast all the time, that getting around so quickly is such a good thing, and I can see why the faster guys do put in some slow laps, because there's no point in sitting around in the chair really a lot of the time, unless you're actually going to get to that point where you need sleep, which is where 44, 45 minute laps would kick in, but you're you're not looking at that till the second day in most of these events in terms of needing sleep. Most people seem to go 24 hours without any in them. And so needless to say, I reined it in for the rest of the race and ended up slowly nearing the cutoff until I uh timed out on lap twelve at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning. So I did a total of twelve loops, um only eleven counting, because I timed out on the twelfth. Total respect to Lizzie's nineteen yards that she did, she actually did twenty laps similar to me, but nineteen fully completed. Um no idea how she got round that. Another seven of those would have well I'd have never got them done, I don't think, but due to the uh elevation of the course. The Faken Backyard itself is a very low key event, as I said. I mean there were only well there were under 20 of us, I think, in the event. Um in the past they've had a field of twelve and sixteen. I think the year Lizzie did it, they were only just twenty odd, twenty-five or something, and that was the first year. But it's a very tough race. And it was won by the aforementioned Victoria Rowens, who completed 15 yards and won with 15 yards. And Vicki is attempting to run 12 backyard ultras in 12 months, so although she's not doing one a month, sometimes she's got two in a month, uh, and she'd previously, two weeks prior to the vacuum event, uh, had completed 24 yards or 100 miles at an even hillier event at Longbridge Backyard down on the South Downs, uh, which is run by Darren Evans, who organises the uh Green Runners. So great event and uh an amazing result for Victoria to do that, and and I think she's still doing them. I think she's got another one or two coming up yet before she's completed them. I think she started last March, February or March. So amazing, and really well done to her. Uh, a reason that this timing of this podcast actually does fit, um, although it's out of sync with what I was doing, is that the World Satellite Championships start this Saturday on the 19th of October. Uh and all around the world, 62 nation teams made up of 15 athletes in each team, will all compete at the same time, which is pretty incredible. So Laz has set this up um so that everybody goes off at the same time all around the world. So depending where you are, um I'm not sure what time the UK one starts. Uh that's being run by Lindley as well. Uh at Thetford Forest, which is a new course. Um, I should have said that the Suffolk Backyard Ultra is moving to the Thetford Forest course uh next year, uh just because of the number and the size. Um, and I think he ran out of camping space there really. Um it's uh you know, I I went from Suffolk being I think about 330 odd entries to uh Fakum, which was under 20, so you know there's a huge difference between these type of backyard events. I do think that the Facum one um is more in keeping with the spirit of how Laz set these up. I mean the idea is that anybody can set them up in their backyard and literally run them with whoever wants to turn up and run. So I had quite a nice feeling from that from Facum compared to Suffolk, which is a much bigger affair, um and gains obviously a lot more publicity and has the elite of the UK and some of Europe uh entering into it. Uh but anyway, yeah, back to the World Satellite Championships. Um to have made the UK team unless you won a silver ticket event, and there are four of those in the year at which you you have to win, but um you can win those at a lower distance than the qualifying distance, actually. You only have to win that event, but as it happens, nobody did. Um so you would have had to have completed a minimum of 37 yards laps or hours in an event to qualify for the UK team. Um, and to give you some idea, the US team's lowest distance is 49 yards to qualify. Now, having listened to the Backyard Ultra Running podcast, which I've promoted before on here, the Aussies, because it's an Australian podcast, I they really fancy their chances. Um they're even talking it up to getting three runners into three-digit numbers, so that's a hundred yards or a hundred hours. Uh and they've got they have got a really good team. They're probably the second favourites after the US in there would also be the Japanese and the Belgians, probably. So I'm going to be interested, I don't know anybody else is, uh, to see how that goes. Um, and basically the top 50 winners of the national championships, that's the people who go the furthest, uh, qualify for Biggs Backyard, which is seen as the backyard worldwide. Championships and that's in literally in Laz's backyard. So if you want to see how the satellite champs go, check out the backyard.com. All the information is on there. And if you're planning to give Backyard a go in the UK next year, uh go to the same uh website and go to races and select United Kingdom and you will get a list of UK races. And I warn you, the first race listed is the Falkland Islands in January 2025. I'm not sure whether many of you want to have a go at that. I know Lizzie was talking about going to the Falklands, so there's one you could go to, Lizzie, in January. So that was my backyard experience. Another format ticked off in the ultra running world. And so maybe see you at one in twenty-five twenty-five. So with that, yeah.