Thread by @voraciousbrain

greetings from Belt Buckle, Tennessee, where I will be spending the next several days reporting on the Big Dog Backyard Ultra, a race that DOESNT END UNTIL EVERYONE QUITS

the guy who won last year? 283 miles, or from Saturday morning until Tuesday

I got up at 3:45am and am very cold and sleepy! I'm also very excited to witness something that I absolutely would believe to be impossible if it hadn't already happened before. Humans, man!

I should note that this reporting trip is for my book about pain!

"Hurts So Good: The Science and Culture of Pain on Purpose" is about how humans choose to engage with pain, covering everyone from chiliheads to monks to well, ultrarunners. It's gonna be wild.

The existence of ultrarunners makes more sense when you learn about persistence hunting, wherein humans EXHAUST THEIR PREY TO DEATH by calmly, relentlessly chasing it to the point of collapse

Most mammals have to pant to cool off. Humans don't. Humans can hunt antelope on foot.

The runners are finishing up hour 8, hard to believe we're just getting started!

I overheard someone tell a runner to remember that running today is about getting ready to run tomorrow and my brain turned itself inside out. Remember, they are running through the day AND night

We are nearing the 12 hour mark, losing daylight fast, and the rain has started. Of the 72 runners who started, the field has thinned to 66. After this lap on the trail, they will switch to running on the less-treacherous road until morning.

We're still just getting started.

Coming up on 16 hours. The fire is nice. Someone put a mini scented candle in one (1) of the port-a-potties, and you can see a tiny glowing through the plastic, right by the hinge, right by the bottom of the door.

Good morning from hour 25 of the Big Dog Backyard Ultra! The runners have completed their first 100 miles and now, as Laz says, is when the race really begins.

(I added an extra "big" to the race name by accident because I'm sleepy, oops)

footage of hour 25 starting! you can hear the jeerleaders too

72 has dwindled to 14, and here they are: the runners heading off for the 34th hour. THEY HAVE BEEN DOING THIS FOR 33 HOURS. I was worried I'd become numb to the intensity of what I'm seeing but nope! I am absolutely blown away

lmao I am getting loopy, that was the start of hour THIRTY-FOUR not thirty-three

The record is an unfathomable 68 laps.

These runners have been going since 6:40am yesterday and they just hit the halfway point to Johan Steene's record.

The Rules of the Race
Everyone has one hour to do one lap
One lap = 4.16 miles

Record = 68 laps
68 laps = 68 hours running
68 hours = 283 miles

If this races matches the record, it will run from 6:40am Saturday to 2:40am Tuesday.

Tuesday is a long way away from now.

The runners aren't doin fast laps and chillin. They run 55 minute laps then lie on the ground with their eyes closed while a crew member tends their wounds and feeds them snacks for 4 mins. Or they sit with a coat on and stare into the middle distance. Or some combo of the two!

Hello from the midst of witnessing hour THIRTY-NINE of running.

There are seven runners left. Two of them are women, Maggie Guterl and Katie Wright.

Back in May, Wright became the first woman to win a backyard ultra. And right now, tonight, she has already entered in personal best territory, surpassing the distance that garnered her the win.

Everyone running right now is so tough. It's hard to imagine what's ahead.

Little reminder that these seven runners are in the midst of their SECOND all-nighter

That's unpleasant under the most indolent circumstances. These people have been...*checks notes* uh, running

OH MY GOD WE ARE DOWN TO 4 RUNNERS AND TWO OF THEM ARE WOMEN

sorry I just took a 2 hour nap and I just woke up and I'm so excited I could cry

The final 4:
Katie Wright
Maggie Guterl
Will Hayward
Dave Proctor

Hour 46 coming up.

Here they are, the final four heading out for hour 47. Another 2 hours and they'll get off the road and back on the trail. It feels like the race has started.

Important note: uppn completion of the 48th lap in progress, the runners will hit the 200 mile mark.

They have been running since 6:40am Saturday.

At the end of the 50th lap, Katie Wright is done for the race. She walked off the course and out the woods right by my tent, after doing two sub-24hr 100 mile runs, back to back, without stopping more than a few minutes at a time.

And now there are three.

I have been trying to send this forever, but coverage is spotty out here.

But when it does go through, behold: the start of HOUR 52

And now there are two.

Dave Proctor is out on hour 53. So much love for him in this crowd. He's a parent of a child with a rare disease and raises money for such conditions through Outrun Rare. It's okay, I'm crying too.

outrunrare.com

THE FINAL TWO:

Will Hayward, 51 years old

Maggie Guterl, 39 years old

The race could end at any time. It could also go on until Tuesday. It's a whole new kind of race now, 54 hours since it began.

And trust me when I say we don't know how much race is left, now that there are two.

See, in 2017, the field was down to two runners by hour 28.

The two men then proceeded to run against each other for more than THIRTY HOURS. Thirty hours, just the two of them.

Oh, and by the way, a woman has never won the endless race that is the Big Dog Backyard Ultra.

Maggie Guterl, who has been out in front for the last few laps, has a chance today to be the very first.

And just in case this whole scene wasn't desperately grueling enough, a cold rain has started.

Two all-nighters in a row and the two remaining runners will have to manage slippery rocks on a hilly trail.

I am moved by the way this small crowd gathers each hour to hold vigil for the runners as they return from the woods. Everything gets very quiet as we wait for them to return, and then, at first glimpse of a flash of movement through the trees, the field erupts into joyful noise.

Ugh, the sky just completely split open into a cold rain. The runners are out there getting soaked, and they will need to finish this lap early enough to get changed before the next hour starts. If not, they will have to keep running in cold, wet clothes.

Sports!!!!!!!

Here's Maggie wrapping up a wet hour 54, otherwise known as 225 miles!

And here's Will, doing the same! They are both out now for hour 55 of continuous running. It is still very much raining.

And get this: when one of the two remaining runners finally quits, the other runner will have to complete one more 4.16 mile lap around the course to be crowned the winner.

If they can't run that final lap, then no one wins the race.

It's happened before.

This race might be coming to a close soon. Will looked really rough coming through on that lap. He's still running though.

But also, who knows when this race will end! Some look bad and pull through it; others look great and then crash hard.

Honestly, watching them run and run and run and push and push and grind and grind? It has transcended into something that feels very precious. Almost holy.

IT'S LIKE WEIRD CHURCH, MAN

PAINFUL, GRUELING, ENDLESS CHURCH

Note, I'm not sure if the last person standing has to run an additional lap if the other runner times out on the course and doesn't make it back in time. But yes, if the other runner doesn't start the last lap, the last person must run it to win.

Will is still in it! He made it back with 3 minutes to spare, and off they go again. This will be their 57th hour running.

Two hours ago, Will looked absolutely finished. His face was totally limp, like a corpse. The other runners in the crowd were saying it was over.

But that was two hours ago. And Will is still going. The two, lone runners just left, and hour 58 is underway.

Only 6 people have ever done 58 hours straight in a backyard ultra, but by the end of this hour, it looks like that number will be 8.

Think about everything you have done since 6:40am Monday. That whole time, Maggie and Will have been running.

Will and Maggie just took off for hour 59 of running. I feel like I'm hallucinating just typing that out.

It's absolutely pissing down rain here, and the sun is about to go down. It's already chilly from the downpour, the ground is a mess, and I'm having a real hard time keeping my tent mud-free and reportering shit dry.

Maggie and Will are still out there running.

AINT THIS SOME FUCKIN WEATHER

Maggie and Will just started HOUR 60

They have both tied the record for the 4th longest backyard ultra. It's going to get dark while they are out this loop. If they make it, they will switch to the road loop for the night.

Maggie is back from her 60th lap.

No sign of Will yet.

2 minutes to go.

AND IT'S MAGGIE GUTERL, YOUR CHAMPION AND THE FIRST WOMAN TO WIN THE HARDEST RACE IN THE WORLD, THE BIG DOG BACKYARD ULTRA!!!!!!

There is still no sign of Will.

Crew have gone into the woods to find him.

I'm standing by at the trail waiting for a Will update, and I won't start loading out my gear until I know something.

IT'S WILL, HE'S BACK!! All is good, all is good.

That was a hell of a race. I got to witness something that I could have sworn was impossible.

I am truly moved by the experience, and I'm so glad I got to share it with all of you.

I'll post a little bit more in this thread to wrap up, but first I want to pack up my gear and load out and in thr dark rain and drive to a hotel and take a very long, very hot shower.

60 HOURS OF RUNNING YALL.