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I have to admit it, Dead Cow Gully has taken on an almost mystical meaning for me. I've been fascinated by this race since I first discovered it four or five years ago, but my interest really ramped up after I watched Breaking Point, the doco about the 2023 world record breaking race. 

After almost signing up last year (regrets!), I decided to make it my A-race for 2026. It'll be my first backyard ultra, and it’s on this weekend (May 30).

There's something about this race format I find irresistible. The fact it forces people to push themselves to their absolute limits means backyards are always full of amazing human stories, and Dead Cow has featured them in spades. 

It's amazing to think a race that's only been in existence for half a dozen years has twice seen the world record broken. And both times - 2023 and 2025 - have featured the same two protagonists fighting it out at the death: Western Australian Phil Gore and Kiwi Sam Harvey. 

What is a backyard ultra?

The format itself is as simple as it is brutal. When the starter's gun - or in this case, the starter's cow bell - sounds, runners have an hour to complete a 6.7k loop course, which is referred to as a "yard". 

Finish in under an hour, and let's face it, that's not a tough ask, and you get to spend the balance of the hour with your support crew, eating, drinking, sleeping and generally recharging. 

Then, at the top of the hour, those who are willing and able go again... and again and again and again. The race finishes when only one person successfully completes a yard. Everyone else is accorded "did not finish" status, although the last person to drop from the field is known as the "assist".

There are other rules - runners can't receive any assistance while on course, runners need to be in the starter's corral before the cow bell sounds and so on - but it's essentially no more complicated than that. Run 6.7k on the hour every hour until you drop, or drop out. 

Races tend to be social. Because everyone is running around the same pace, there's the opportunity to mingle. Even the hot favourites will happily chat with the everyday runners at the back of the pack during the early yards. 

And back at the race precinct, all the support crews are cheek by jowl, waiting for the flurry of activity when their runners come in as the end of each hour approaches. 

Like most ultras, backyards are as much an eating and drinking contest as they are a test of your running ability. But for those who extend beyond 24 hours, sleep deprivation is an added challenge. It's this that does for many people in the end. 

Why 6.7k you ask? It's the metric equivalent of 4.11 miles which is the number of miles you need to run each hour to cover 100 miles in 24 hours. That was the thinking of American Gary Cantrell, aka Laz Lazarus, who came up with the format. You may recognise that name - he is also the brains behind the Barkley Marathons and a number of other unconventional race formats. 

Why's it called a "backyard"? Because Cantrell, who lives on a property in rural Tennessee, ran the first event literally in his, admittedly very big, backyard. Hence 1 loop = 1 yard. His race is called Big's Backyard, named for his dog (sadly no longer with us) and is now the de facto world championship of backyard ultra racing. 

My plan

When I tell people I’m entering DCG and explain the format, most ask a variation of: “Why the HELL would you want to do that?”

For me, it’s similar to every other ultra I’ve run. I ran 50k and 100k races because I wasn’t sure I’d be able to finish, and I wanted to push myself. This time around I know I will technically DNF (spoiler alert: I don’t expect to win!), but I am intruiged to see what happens to my mind and my personality, as well as my body, if I’m able to push to my limit.

Unfortunately, the last three weeks of my build-up has been pretty awful. After four months of steady progress, I was feeling stronger than ever. But in early May, a familiar but uncomfortable pain started in my lower left back, hip and glute.

I was able to manage this to begin with, but a combination of my increasing weekly mileage and an injury I picked up playing football (more proof that while running is great for football, the reverse is definitely not true), resulted in an abrupt end to my training block.

Ever the optimist, I’m regarding this as an extended taper, and a wonderful opportunity to go into the race fully rested. As it turned out, I wouldn’t have been running much, if at all, in the week leading into DCG anyway, because I picked up a stonker of a cold while on holiday on the Great Ocean Road.

Thankfully, I’ve managed one easy 5k in the past week, so I’m confident I can at least start the race. And while I’m still on the Codrals, I’m well and truly over the worst of the cold.

Injury and illness have tempered my expectations here. People have asked how many loops I’m aiming for. I’ve resisted setting a target, because the advice from others is that psychologically it’s hard to keep going once you hit that target. Your brain sees it as the finish line, job done.

So I’ve been pretty coy. But three weeks ago I’d have been disappointed not to get through 15 yards. That’s just over 100k and I know I’ve done that before, in a slightly slower time but on a much more difficult course.

A big, hairy, audacious goal would have been to run through the night and notch up 24 hours - 160k. But now, I’m just going to enjoy the experience and see what I can manage.

It’s shaping up as a great weekend. It looks an amazing place to run. I’ll be surrounded by lots of like-minded (possibly slightly insane) people. And most of all, I have a great crew coming along, for which I am very grateful. 🙏 

I’m giving them one key instruction: don’t let me “quit in the chair”.

Every time I finish a loop, I want to at least start the next one. I’d rather time out on course than fail to get from my gazebo to the starter’s corral.

Wish me luck! I’m going to need it.

⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ The DCG doco that started it all for me. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️ Still gives me chills.

Upcoming Events

There are way too many events for me to list everything that’s happening around the country, but here is a selection of upcoming races (with a bias towards South East Queensland).

The Running Calendar website is a great source if you want a comprehensive understanding of what’s available around the country.