I (Barely) Survived the Ohio Backyard Ultramarathon
Written February 2024. Race + Photo credits below.
On March 18, 2023, I stepped foot in the starting corral of the Ohio Backyard Ultra race. Not only was this my first taste of a backyard-style race, but also my first official ultramarathon. Yippee! Through rain, snow, and sunshine. Through knee cramps and stomach aches. Through my own never-ending doubts. My race was far from perfect, but I want to share my experience for anyone interested in the trail running/ultra-running/psycho running world, describe what this race was like, and provide a few tips that I wish I knew before racing. Buckle up fellas, because this is a wild ride.
Before I get into my race, you may be wondering what an ultramarathon is. And what’s this term “backyard”?! “Ultramarathon” refers to any race longer than a marathon, or 26.2 miles. This can range from 50ks, 50 milers, 100 milers, etc. My current bucket list ultramarathon is the Marathon des Sables, which is a 160 mile race held in the Sahara Desert that can last up to six days. “Bucket list” is an understatement, I may actually pass away from running in the desert for that long. A girl can dream… Anyway, “backyard” is the term for a last person standing event. In the Ohio Backyard Ultra, everyone has to complete a 4.1 mile loop every hour. Time left after finishing the loop can be used to eat and rest before the next hour starts. All competitors run until they decide to drop out of the race or don’t finish a loop in an hour, and the race ends when there is one competitor left.
Dun, dun, dun!
To give you an idea of how competitive this race is, around ⅓ of the racers ran 100 miles or more in 2022. That’s at least a full day and night STRAIGHT of running. The record for this race is 229.16 miles, which is 55 hours of running with no long breaks, no sleep, continuing in the dark at night, and facing whatever weather appears. It’s a brutal race format that utilizes strategy, heavy training, and honestly a little good luck.
The day before the race, my dad (who was acting as my sole crewmate) and I were pumped during our 4 hour drive to Lucasville, Ohio. Contestants can camp overnight in the park where the race is held, and we had an epic plan to set up our camp for maximum comfort. Think of these camps as your own personal pit stops; they’re crucial to having a good backyard race effort. 18 hours before the start, the park was already completely full. The “tent city” was PACKED, and from the look of the other camps it seemed like everyone was prepared to run for multiple days. I also realized while touring the course that the hills were longer than I expected. The course is near a ski resort, so a good portion of it was filled with significant up-and-downs. Nerves were starting to gnaw at me, I desperately wanted to make a good debut in this race. Had I bitten off more than I could chew? My dad had other concerns. He 1) wanted our tent to be close to the start/finish line so he could bring me food and drinks more efficiently during the race, and 2) had explained during the entire car ride how much he wanted to be right next to a firepit (we get it you caveman, you like fire). He hilariously decided to set up our tent by a fire pit behind a ski cabin, which I’m pretty sure was literally someone’s backyard. Do squatters’ rights apply to camping too? Oh well, it is a Backyard Ultra so it seems fitting. We set up camp, ate some pizza, and spent the rest of the evening enjoying a bonfire before hitting the hay.
The night portion of this tale will be titled “The Ice Age”. I got maybe three hours of sleep total due to the cold temps and high wind gusts that shook the tent like a trash bag. Even with my sleeping bag that promised warmth in below-freezing conditions, the 21-degree night was pretty chilling. At one point I tried to go outside the tent to use the bathroom and ran into an issue that almost resulted in pee-sicles flying into our tent. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so around 2 a.m. I grabbed my Little Buddy heater. After a restless night shivering and possibly inhaling propane fumes, my 5:30 am alarm rang and I got ready for the race.
I slogged around for my uniform, complete with my trusted trail shoes and my lucky orange blossom socks. I ate breakfast, drank cowboy coffee with my dad, and paid the porta-potties a visit at least seven times before lining up for the race. Don’t judge, I was nervous.
The air was crisp and there was a thick layer of frost lining the ground, but the pink morning sky peeking above the woods was a gorgeous sight. At 7:30 am the start buzzer went off, and we were off at a pace that would make a slug look like Usain Bolt. We all knew we had a long day, and night, and another day of running ahead of us, so may as well go easy.
The first three hours went by quick and were pretty uneventful. People were in good spirits and chatting about their goals, their lives, etc. I met a woman from Michigan who had a baby just two months prior to the race and another from Georgia who said this was her 50th ultra race. One group of runners I met griped about being kept awake at their hotel by a rowdy bachelorette party (you guys were lucky to have a hotel, I thought, I had to sleep in the damn tundra). I was shocked to learn that some of these people were running 100-120 miles a week. These weren't professional athletes that make a living off of running, mind you, but “regular" people who worked 9-to-5s, focused on school or careers, raised families, and other commitments that would make training difficult to schedule. How phenomenal are these people that they lead functional lives while also running for hours a day and racing in events like this one? And for FUN, no less! I would find out during the race that there were some pro-running legends running among us as well. Harvey Lewis, who ran the record I mentioned previously of 55 hours; Jennifer Russo, who in May 2023 at Virginia’s Capital Backyard Ultra would run the world record for longest backyard effort for a woman with 308 miles (74 hours) AND would win the 2024 Ohio Backyard Ultra; Tara Dower, who has multiple 1st place race finishes and ran the fastest known time for the Mountains-to Sea Trail (1,175 miles), the Benton Mackaye Trail (288 miles), and the Colorado Trail (500 miles). Legends of the sport gathered with fellow ultra-enthusiasts like myself to essentially run in a large circle in the middle of the forest for as long as possible, and I was loving every second of it. That is until the snow began to fall.
By the fourth hour a heavy powdering of snow was descending, a surprise that froze us athletes to the bone and made the terrain slick with ice. We continued, enjoying each others’ conversations through chattering teeth. During this period I also kicked up the support from my dad. Every hour, as soon as I finished a loop, it was one bowl of instant noodles, a cup of hot water, and a refill of electrolytes. He would also bring me extra snacks that I’d request while running, primarily apples and Honey Stinger waffles since I was craving sugar as I burned more and more calories. The race directors got everyone pizza, and you better believe I absolutely wolfed down some gluten-free pizza as quick as I could every lap. This was all fine and dandy on my stomach until lap 6, which was when I started to board the Struggle Bus.
Good news: it stopped snowing after a couple hours and the sun was shining. Typical bipolar Midwest spring weather, am I right? Bad news: without the wind chill and snow, I was getting too warm in my garments. I took off my jacket, but I never had enough time during the loops to change my thermal leggings. I’m not a fan of leggings to begin with, as I prefer to run with my scandalous legs out and free for the entire world to see, but now they were becoming extremely uncomfortable. My knees were starting to cramp, and after 26 miles of running up hills they were stinging. Around this time the freshly-laid snow melted into a sticky sludge of mud that made the hills even more difficult to climb.
If I could give anyone advice for their first ultra, it would be to be smart about fueling. Train for longer races and test out different fueling methods to find what works for you. At this point my worry of not getting enough calories in caused me to overcompensate by eating wayyy too much in too little time, and it kicked my butt. When it was snowing and cold out, I had no issues scarfing down meals this way. It was a different matter entirely with the milder weather plus the discomfort from the extra layers. From laps 6 to 8, I was throwing up at least twice per hour. The warmth and sweating made my stomach feel unbearably heavy, so my body decided the best route from there on out was to expel pizza-noodle-electrolyte stew as quickly as possible. One sweet lady gave me a Pepto Bismol tablet and ran beside me for an hour. Her high energy was extremely helpful, and with my new encouraging buddy basically acting as a service animal for me we sallied forth. She never said one negative thing… except when I brought up a race I wanted to do in the future.
“Oh, don’t do that one. That race director is a dick.”
Cool, noted.
Lap 7, even with the stomach issues, felt like my best lap. Even after running for over 6 hours, I felt like I had some fight. I ran beside a new gal who had a goal of 12 hours, and we were cooking. When I finished that lap I had 12 minutes to spare, which may as well have been a week’s worth of rest. Little did I know that hit podcaster, commentator, and jiu jitsu enthusiast Joe Rogan would single-handedly be my ultimate demise. After 7 hours of running I thought to myself, “Gee, I could really use a pick-me-up. A boost of energy”. Enter the Limited Edition Joe Rogan Walmart energy drink I brought to the race. These other racers had no idea the sheer power and force I was going to display after finishing all 150 mgs of caffeine in this can. Truly, I felt like a genius. I chugged the drink down and enjoyed a few bites of food before continuing on with my race….
MAY DAY, MAY DAY, MAY DAY!!!
HOUSTON, WE’RE HAVING A HEART ATTACK!!
Within the first mile of my 8th lap I felt like I was having heart palpitations. God, is that you?!?!?! I think my body was gently trying to tell me “You overdid it and death is your only option now”. One mile went by, then two. Breathing felt heavier and I could not for the life of me get my heart to calm down. My knees were still screaming, my stomach was torn to shreds, sweating seemed to double. I was frustrated. I just had a lap where I felt amazing. It seemed like problems were suddenly piling up in an effort to take me out of the race. I wanted to make it to the 12-hour mark, am I not going to make it?
A little word of wisdom from Writing Abby: Happiness isn’t always at the top of a staircase that you have to climb. It can be right there with you no matter what step you’re on. I ended my OBU race after 8 hours, bringing my mileage total to 33.3 miles, but I got a wealth of knowledge from it. As frustrated as I was, that was the furthest I had run in my entire life. Vomit, cramps, and crappy weather just added to the experience. You can strive to do better, to build big goals, but in order to improve you have to take those painful experiences with grace and say to them, “Thank you, I learned something very valuable from that.”
People shared their training with me that I now implement into my daily routine. I learned how to strengthen my joints so my knees wouldn’t hurt during races. I changed up my diet for both training and races and learned how to avoid stomach issues. Most importantly, in the wise words of the lady who gave me Pepto Bismol, I learned “It’s not a proper ultra unless something goes wrong”. Speaking of, the other competitors were fantastic. Out of 100 people, 71 people would run over 12 hours, 62 would run through a dark winter night, and 29 would hit 100 miles. Insane! I really had a blast out there, and I have major goals for the next time I make it into the Ohio Backyard Ultra.
And now, some shoutouts!
Shoutout to my dad for keeping me alive during the race.
Shoutout to the baby-having lady, the Georgia lady (I hope you enjoyed your 50th ultra experience!), the pepto bismol lady, and the lady from Lap 7.
Shoutout to SEOTR Events (https://www.seotrevents.com/ ) for putting on an incredible race. You guys rock!
Shoutout to Stu (https://www.windingtrailsphotography.com/) and Brandon (https://www.brandonholly.com/) for the sick race photos!
Lastly, shoutout to Joe Rogan for the epic heart attack drink.
