2024 Race Recap: another amazing BYU

Well, apparently last year’s good vibes, success, dozens of PB distances and a Hugh Beedell win weren’t just a fluke, because the 2024 Nelson Backyard Ultra: Cottonwood Countdown was every bit as good, and in my opinion, even better.

Hugh spent a year smack-talking all of his likely challengers, of course in his happy, funny style; there’s no malice in the Backyard. “This is my 50-hour pace” he titled a run on Strava. “#PartyTilMonday” got tagged to other posts. And even though he revealed his psy-ops strategies from 2023 (relentless optimism, and night loop headlamp shenanigans to demoralize his competitors) he had more in the tank for this year. An 18-hour, 120.6km win last year was pushed to 31 hours and 207.7km this year. He had a crew led by wife Tara and running pal Connor (who also generously made pancakes for other runners too), and lots of family support. It was clear that Hugh came ready to compete. 

At Hour 30, Hugh and Alfie set out. Both were looking solid, and by the way they were talking, we were making plans for night number two: get more gas for the genny, more firewood, maybe call in sick for Tuesday, lol. But they stepped off the line, and within steps Alfie decided that he just couldn’t go one more, and told Hugh he was done. It was a surprise to everyone - including Alfie’s crew - who were already in the car heading to town for supplies - we sent a volunteer running after them to get them back! And then, in order to win, Hugh had to finish a lap on his own. He made us sweat a little bit as the clock ticked closer and closer to the hour mark: “Can you imagine that after all this, he times out?” we wondered. He messaged his wife Tara that he was at the halfway mark at 25 minutes, but was hurting and walking for a bit. Ultimately, of course, he finished with lots of time to spare, and took the trophy once again.

Huge congratulations to everyone who was part of this event - volunteers, sponsors, supporters, and most of all, the runners. You all made this an event to remember, and I am already excited for next year. (And I’m booking the Tuesday off next year too, as I’m guessing we’ll be there for two full days and nights in 2025).

THE FINAL YARDS;

Hour 20, 5:00 a.m. Sunday morning, there were five out there still running. Alfie, Jack, Edisson, Matt, and Hugh - and all were looking strong. Those five ran together through the impressive 24-hour, 160 km (100 mile) barrier. With no sign of them stopping, we pumped some ideas into an AI songwriting app, and had this written for them: https://suno.com/song/7497cbba-046c-41ef-8e8e-79f714f77298

But then at the end of hour 24, Matt - the New Zealander who was here on vacation while his wife was working at Kootenay Lake Hospital (she’s a doc, and yes, we’re working on recruiting her back here full time along with Matt!) decided that 160km was a nice number, and stepped out. He had other commitments, and an unexpected day and night and another day was pushing it. His previous longest run was 50km, so more than tripling the PB was pretty epic.

Matt was also the winner of all three of our Speed Lap Challenges. When he ran the first Challenge lap (Yard 4) in about 25 minutes (3:50/km), most of figured he just wanted the prize, and would quickly tap out, because realistically, in an ultra distance race, running that pace (three times!) is not conducive to longevity. But Matt proved us wrong, not only winning a free pair of Altra shoes courtesy of Valhalla Pure Nelson, but hung on for 24 hours. Honestly, at Hour 24, he was looking as fresh as he did on Hour 4; I thought he was a likely candidate to dethrone Hugh. 

Jack also looked incredibly strong throughout those final laps. His gait looked smooth and efficient, and he didn’t show any signs of weakening. His pace stayed solid - in fact, he became quicker at the end, banging out 39 and 41-minute Yards in Hour 27 and 28. Of the group still running, following Matt’s demise, Jack was high on my list as a likely winner. But like Matt, he had other life plans (vacation) and didn’t want to risk breaking himself in the Backyard, so after 187.6km, he stepped out.

Jack also faced a few other challenges during the race. Between laps, he accidentally dropped his phone into the outhouse. For most of us that means “Well, time for a new phone.” But not Jack. He tried to retrieve it. Couldn’t get it, so went back for his next Yard. And in that time, presumably, more people used that outhouse. Next break, Jack came back, rigged up a stick and cup gizmo, and got his phone back, cracked screen and clogged charging port and all. FYI - if you high-fived Jack yesterday, you may get pinkeye today, lol.

A WOMAN’S PLACE IS IN THE BACKYARD

In the Nelson Running Club, a significant percentage of our members are women. And in the Backyard, half of the 72 runners were women. And almost all of them got to ring the Personal Best bell when they finished, signifying they’d just run further than ever before. Natalie had previously run about 28km for her longest run, but this past weekend, she pushed through the pain cave, and supported / forced (haha) by running pal and volunteer Patricia, went back out for ‘just one more lap’ and finished 100km. Amazing work.

Rosie, Jaclyn, and Mhairi all supported each other to finish as the final three females, clocking 19 hours and 127.3 km. It’s Jaclyn who called the race the ‘Shambhala of running’ because of the supportive, community vibe - and she’s a big part of the reason for that vibe! Next year, we’re watching for a group of women to break the 100 mile barrier and further, getting to a win!

SPONSORS AND CHALLENGE YARDS

This year, we actually did some work to find sponsors and prizes, and boy, did they step up. Nelson and District Credit Union and Valhalla Pure Nelson came back on as presenting sponsors, getting us the money needed to put the event on. Then we had Hoka and Du/er come on board with amazing prizes for the winner - $350 credit for a Du/er outfit, and $350 from Hoka for a pair of shoes and an outfit. Sam from Valhalla came to us with two pairs of Salomon Speedcross trail runners, and two pairs of Altra trail runners - a further $800 worth of prizes! Backroads Brewing came to the site to do some beer sampling - much appreciated by runners in the warm part of the afternoon - and they provided a flat of delicious beers, and a couple of ball caps and fleece shirt for prizes. Nelson’s Chocofellar was also doing sampling in the afternoon, and they contributed a delicious, locally-made bar for every runner. And one of the spectators at the race was Shupinder, chef and owner of Tandoori Indian Grill and Lounge - he was so impressed with the event, that he went back to the restaurant and returned with 5 $40 Gift Certificates to hand out as prizes! And to top it off, volunteers from Kootenay Kids Society came up to hold a fundraising barbecue, feeding hungry racers and spectators alike. The support for this event was amazing, and I can’t wait to see what we’re able to do next year!

To make sure those prizes got spread around the field, we devised a series of ‘Challenge Yards’, where the winner would get one of the donated prizes. 

The first Challenge Yard was in hour 2, and the prize was a pair of Salomon Speedcross GTX6 shoes for the winning male and female runner. But to up the ante and keep things entertaining, runners weren’t told what the Challenge was. We gave hints and suggestions: fastest lap, best costume, most-creative finish line crossing, loudest song sung, and so on. The actual challenge - last person to cross the line! 

We had a bunch more Challenge laps, and for some of those, we did indeed reveal the Challenge, most notably, the fastest lap. We expected that the fast lap would help to thin the field as runners broke themselves sprinting for the prize, but as noted, Matt not only crushed the fastest laps, but also stayed in the race for 24 hours, and only quit when he had other plans for the day!

HIGHLIGHTS AND NOTABLE RUNS:

We got a message from Tima, who was on our waitlist for tickets after the first wave of entries sold out in a matter of days. She was coming in from Vernon to run, and was hoping to get additional entries for her husband Chris and kids Marlon and Remi. Things worked out, and we got all four into the race.

7 year old Marlon and 9 year old Remy lined up with mom and dad, and were off on Yard 1. And then again on yard 2. Running 13.4 km is a huge feat for kids that age, but they weren’t done. Embracing the Backyard mantra of ‘Just one more lap’, Marlon finished three yards (20.1km), and Remy put four Yards in his pocket for 26.8 km! I’m looking forward to watching those two at Cottonwood Countdown 2044 when they’re gunning for a win in 48 hours.

Another notable runner was ‘Metronome Monte,’ a 68-year-old from Salmo, who completed another century run, matching his effort from last year with 15 hours and 100.5 km. But most impressive to those of us watching was his bang-on consistency, coming in (usually first) at about 42 minutes, lap after lap after lap. What an inspiration! Monte said something profound last year when we talked about endurance running for older athletes: “You don’t stop running when you get old,” he said. “You get old when you stop running.” 

And once again this year, our number one fan was a lady none of us have ever met. Agnes Werth first heard about our race from an interview I did on CBC Radio last year. She started following our Facebook page, and she was up all night commenting and congratulating runners. And again this year, Agnes was right there, cheering you all on in the dark, offering encouragement and support; she totally gets the Backyard Ultra vibe!

MUSIC AND PICTURES

We had a specially-curated list of songs for the top of each hour, every one having some connection to the Backyard: run, don’t stop, legs giving out, survive, strength, losing, and more. A few were fun: ‘Sunrise’ from Norah Jones for the 6:00 a.m. lap, and ‘Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard’ by Paul Simon for runner Rosie, because of the lyric “Goodbye to Rosie, the queen of Corona”, “We’ve Only Just Begun” by the Carpenters, on special request from Hugh at Hour 24 (more of his signature psy-op strategy). If you want to listen, here’s the link to the Spotify playlist: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6eyXgSmd2zJZmHVjN1F28r?si=8bFS9nmZQQi9j4pmdecNrA 

And for pictures from the race - check out the ones we took, and please please please add yours!  https://albums.memento.com/tick73810 

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PRIZE CEREMONY AND THANK YOU

We’re going to take a week to recover, but we’ll be in touch with details for a Prize Ceremony for Hugh, and a big social to thank volunteers and all of you next week at Backroads Brewing Co. 

VOLUNTEERS EXTRAORDINAIRE

Finally, I need to acknowledge the amazing volunteers who gave endless hours to make this event happen. My wife Judith, once again, took the reins on figuring out what we needed and putting it together, getting schedules done, and more. Nia became Judith’s ‘Volunteer Queen’ - taking on the frantic and detailed task of recording the runners coming in and going out, and building a system to make it repeatable for days. Deb was scheduled to work a few hours, ended up staying six, going home and then coming back later to help more, and came back the next day just to see how things were going. Patricia and Emmanuel took the night shift in the cold and dark, but kept us warm with charcuterie and Romanian moonshine, lol. Jason once again was jack-of-all-trades, building fires, tracking runners, bringing snacks, and keeping everyone’s spirits high. Stephane not only ran, but also made our beautifully-wonky photobooth board mounted on crutches, and blew the horn to start the laps. Kelsey and Robin - also running this weekend - helped to secure sponsors, prizes, the Kootenay Kids BBQ, and more. And all day and night, we had people - including DNF runners - checking in to see if anyone needed anything. It’s that kind of event. The spirit of the volunteers - some of whom are brand-new runners themselves - is what kept the vibe so high all weekend long. We simply couldn’t do it without them. Thank you all. 

What an amazing weekend. I’m going to bed now. See you all soon!