2025 Bullshit Backyard Ultra

 

Photo Credit: Pfahl Photo Co. https://pfahlphotoco.pixieset.com/ 

The 2025 Bullshit Backyard Ultra (BS Backyard) was one of the greatest experiences of my running life so far. Not because the course was at some extravagant, far off dream destination. It was only about a 3.5 hour drive from home for me to the race location in Lenoxville, PA. It wasn’t because I set a new PR or had to push through any extremely low points when I thought things were going to fall apart. The highlight of the BS Backyard for me and why it was such a significant race for me was because it was a shared experience with my two oldest sons (13 and 10 at the time of the race). They both helped crew me which they have done in the past so while I love having them crew me, it was not a new experience. For this race though, my oldest, Steven, decided he wanted to try running a backyard. And that is exactly what he did.

Before the start of the race.

He first mentioned his desire to run a backyard after the first time him and his brother crewed me at Bob’s Big Timber last summer. Following that experience of sharing the majority of crewing duties between the two of them and getting a much more hands on experience of backyard ultras, he floated the idea to me that he might want to try running one. I loved the idea and made it a goal to make it happen sometime in 2025. As I started planning my race schedule for 2025, finding a backyard that would work to make it happen was a top priority for me. It turned out that the BS Backyard was just about perfect in all aspects I was looking for: not too far from home, the race date worked with the whole family’s schedules, and the course didn’t seem too daunting for a first time backyard runner. So with the Race Director’s (RD), Matt Pfahl, blessing of allowing a 13 year old to run his backyard, I registered both of us for the race!

 

We trained together a bit, talked about backyard race strategy a little, and discussed race goals for both of us leading up to the race. As is normal for me, the race preparation time felt like it went by quickly and before I realized it, it was time to pack the car and hit the road for a boys’ trip. Upon arrival at the race, we got our aid tent set up near the corral just as daylight was running out. We all settled down for one more night of rest before the start of the first yard in the morning.
 

Photo Credit: Pfahl Photo Co. https://pfahlphotoco.pixieset.com/ 

I was more nervous starting a backyard with my son than I had been for any other backyard start in some time. I wasn’t worried about my race, but was more nervous for him and his race. I hoped he would do well while also enjoying it. I was worried he would have a miserable experience or just feel like he had a crap race at the end of it. Thankfully, all of those worries were completely unnecessary.
 

We started the race and ran together for nearly his entire race. The race day course was entirely private land, primarily meandering single track trail running along a river and through and around some pasture and hayfields. For the course having a relatively small footprint (maybe somewhere around a total area of 50 acres), it felt more spread out while running it than it actually was when you look at the area on a map. My Coros watch reported 7,799 total feet of elevation gain for my race, so that puts the course at somewhere around 350 feet of gain per yard. It was enough elevation for someone like my son who has mostly trained on flat ground in the hill free area of southern NJ to feel the impact of it after a few hours, but would probably feel pretty mild for anyone accustomed to training with elevation change.
  

Celebrating my birthday with a Poo emoji cupcake!

After a couple yards, Steven was still looking strong and smiling. He had already hit a new distance PR as his longest run up to the race was an 8 mile training run on a treadmill in our basement. The goal we had set for him was to do at least a half marathon distance whether all the yards were completed in time to reach it or not. As we ran the third yard, I was becoming increasingly certain that he would shatter that goal and go a whole lot farther. I mentioned my thoughts to him during that yard and maybe planted a seed for a much bigger goal about hitting marathon distance and that once he’s there he may as well shoot for a 50k. He laughed at it at the time and I wasn’t totally serious, but he was making me believe it was possible.
  

Photo Credit: Pfahl Photo Co. https://pfahlphotoco.pixieset.com/

I don’t think I noticed any signs of him struggling at all until the fifth or sixth yards. It was around that time he started saying his ankles were hurting and was just beginning to look a bit depleted. He was planning to stop after 6 yards (25 miles). He was feeling spent and looked like he was struggling to keep the pace necessary to come in with just a few minutes between yards. Although he had made up his mind not to go back out on the 7th yard, I told him how proud I was of him for going way above his goal and pushing as far as he did. He was quiet in our aid tent that interloopal period until about 2 minutes before the start of the next yard he said aloud “I wonder if I could finish another one in time?” I believe I responded with “only one way to find out.” And with that he decided to go back out for ONE MORE YARD!
 

When we thought Steven's race was over... but it wasn't!

Only it wasn’t one more yard. During yard 7, as he was pushing through some discomfort and fatigue, he said he would try to get to a 50k distance and complete 8 yards. He struggled a bit and it pained me to watch him put himself through it, but he did it. It was such a relief to see him complete it. He was so proud of the accomplishment and was completely fulfilled by it. The relief for me was not only that he achieved far more than we had said would be a success, but he did it without injury. The last few laps when he was showing signs of struggling I was worried, but certainly did not want to discourage him. I was hoping he wasn’t just doing it for my approval, but because he wanted to push himself. I was at a point where my parental instincts were telling me to tell him to stop to avoid risking injury, but my backyard ultra runner mentality was encouraging him to stay with me so he doesn’t time out before hitting his updated goal. Honestly, those last few laps with him were the most stressful of the race for me.

Photo Credit: Pfahl Photo Co. https://pfahlphotoco.pixieset.com/

Once Steven called it after 8 yards (33 miles) for his first backyard, I sighed a breath of relief that it went so well for him. He was able to relax and recover a bit while my 10 year old that was crewing both of us continued to crew me. With the race having 12 hours of day loops and 12 hours night loops, we were only 4 yards before switching to the night course at that point. Those 4 hours went by pretty fast. It was kind of lonely without Steven on the course, but it gave me a chance to chat a bit more with the other runners rather than being focused just on him. It was during those next few day laps that several runners joked with me about how Steven staying in the race for as long as they did kept them motivated because they didn’t want to get beat by some kid. It’s funny, and I think there is a bit of truth in there.
 

Photo Credit: Pfahl Photo Co. https://pfahlphotoco.pixieset.com/

The weather also made those last few hours of day loops a little interesting. There was wind, rain, and even some hail. It all cleared up again though and we had sunny skies again before nightfall. Thankfully our newly refurbished aid tent sides and canopy held up through it all. As I ran the night laps my boys took turns getting rest and crewing for me. I was really impressed how quickly Steven recovered and was able to be up much of the night to help me with my race. As the night wore on, the backyard ultra format continued to deplete runners. The night course was less road than I had anticipated. The road portion of the night course consisted of two out and backs totaling only a little over a mile of road. The rest of the night course was similar to and shared a few sections with the day course. The only part of the course that I didn’t like was a stretch of the night course that ran along the edge of a hayfield. It wouldn’t have been bad, but this section was very wet to the point where your shoes would sink ankle deep if you didn’t keep moving (some spots it didn’t matter if you kept moving or not, your shoe was sinking). Thankfully they had set up a row of 8x4 plywood boards along this section, but there was enough space between them to force you to get your feet soggy. With the cold evening and overnight temperatures we ran through, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience. What made it worse and caused my lowest point during the race was that we had to run this section as an out and back twice for every night yard. At the point of the first night yard when I realized we had to run that stretch a total of 48 times and I had only done it 3 times it seemed pretty daunting. But I wasn’t going to let that ruin my race; I forged ahead.
 

The infamous night loop boardwalk.
Photo Credit: Pfahl Photo Co. https://pfahlphotoco.pixieset.com/

By the time it seemed like dawn was well within grasp as I had been counting down the hours until sunrise and the number of soggy boardwalk crossings I had left, the field was down to just four runners including me. Then a pair of runners decided to call it at the same time after completing 18 yards and suddenly it was just me and one other runner (Daniel Teabow) left. We ran our next few yards mostly at different paces on our own. With only 2 hours left until switching back to the day loop I was greeted at the corral as I returned from my yard by the RD with a big “congrats!” I hadn’t realized it, but the other runner had turned around shortly after going out on the 22nd yard. I was surprised because by that point I was pretty sure he was capable and fully intended to break the 100 mile threshold, but the night, sleep deprivation, and fatigue had become too much for him to continue. After some chatting with the race organizers, volunteers, and Daniel and his crew, I was relieved to have the race over but there was a little disappointment in being so close to running until sunrise and having the race end just a few hours short of reaching it. Not to mention, I would also have liked to have been able to push the race beyond the 100 mile distance for the first time and gone home with a buckle.

Daniel Teabow (assist) and I.
Photo Credit: Pfahl Photo Co. https://pfahlphotoco.pixieset.com/

After a little nap, my boys and I got busy cleaning up our aid tent and packing up the car for the ride home. Midway through the process we were invited by Matt to a delicious homemade breakfast of pancakes and bacon with him and his family. I have to say, it was one of the best post race breakfasts ever. Soon after, we were driving home and I was feeling perfectly content and happy with how the whole weekend turned out. It was a beautiful day for a ride in the car and we snacked on all of our leftover aid food as we made the trip and reminisced about the entire backyard race experience we just shared. It was probably one of the greatest birthday weekend celebrations I’ve had.
 

Race Director, Matt Pfahl and I.
Photo Credit: Pfahl Photo Co. https://pfahlphotoco.pixieset.com/

As I alluded to earlier, what made this race experience so special for me was sharing it with my boys. Watching them grow and sharing activities with them that I’m passionate about makes the experience far more valuable than me just getting away for a weekend race. A conversation with a buddy not long after the race highlighted the significance of it even more so for me. We were celebrating my youngest son's second birthday at Chuck E. Cheese with his godparents and their kids. After bragging a bit about Steven and how well he did, the godfather congratulated him and said how amazing it was. That part wasn't surprising but then he went on to say something I wasn't expecting and I thought accentuated the most impressive aspect of Steven's performance; he talked about the “grit” required to accomplish such a feat and how grit is something that can't be taught. Grit is a choice to grind through difficulties and continue to move forward in the face of adversity or even likely failure. While it may not be an attribute that can be taught, I feel it is a skill that can be trained for and developed. Every time we accept an excuse we give ourselves to not give it our all, we are shaving away a layer of grit. Do it often enough and even ridiculous excuses become acceptable. Contrarily, rejecting the mind’s excuses builds layers of protection against voluntary resignation and enhances personal grit. It was such a pleasure, although at times a little painful for me, to watch Steven show how much grit he already has. I wonder where it will take him and what he’ll tackle next. I am so happy to be along for the ride!




Scott Snell
2 May 2025

 

Photo Credit: Pfahl Photo Co. https://pfahlphotoco.pixieset.com/