The Red Centre Wringer Backyard Ultra

Backyard ultras might just be the strangest race format in running. You run 6.7km every hour until you can’t run anymore.

Everyone eventually stops until only one runner is left standing.

Australian backyard ultra legend Phil Gore has pushed the format further than almost anyone.

How many loops do you think you’d last?
Read more on backyard ultras (links below)
Image: Astrid Volzke (trail run mag issue 44)

If you havent found It yet, you can follow Keith for some cryptic Barkley updates..

And Takas spreadsheet, this is put together from sleuthing rumors and gossip. -

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/u/0/d/e/2PACX-1vS7bFn8RH5Na4vVxNijCsFCiHeYqRksDi5D9ddC9Fz4yK7nOQhEg8HwG78lz-PFVB2EkFn4QlJKEXMV/pubhtml?pli=1

Love the nicknames each year 😂 8 remain on loop 2

Keith (@keithdunn.bsky.social) The image that I run from Only seems to follow me

👀

🚨 The 2026 Barkley Marathons is officially underway. The conch was blown at 5:00 a.m. this morning at Frozen Head State Park in Tennessee 🌲, giving runners one hour before the start of what is widely considered the hardest race on the planet. Roughly 40 runners are now out in the wilderness attempting to complete five loops of unmarked mountain terrain — around 100 miles with roughly 60,000 feet of elevation change — in under 60 hours ⏱️. No aid stations. No GPS. Just a compass, a map, and hidden books along the course where runners must tear out their page number to prove they passed through 📖.

💡 The race was inspired by the 1977 prison escape of James Earl Ray from nearby Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. When race director Lazarus Lake heard Ray only covered about eight miles in 54 hours in those woods, he figured he could do 100 💀. Nearly four decades later, the race has only been completed a handful of times. In 2024, Jasmin Paris made history as the first woman to ever finish, crossing the line with just 99 seconds to spare 👏.

🤫 There's no live tracking, no broadcast, and no official announcements — even the start date is kept secret until the last moment. The only reason we know it's started is a post from ultrarunning insider Keith Dunn. Now we wait up to 60 hours to see if anyone makes it out the other side 🏔️💪.

Our Last One Standing, Simon Duke is truly one of a kind!! What an incredible effort!!

Here is the official RCW album!! You can download all of the images full res too 🙂

I look forward to sharing my loop by loop breakdown this week soon. I hope you're all resting those legs, you are all so inspiring!!

https://asrwcphotos.smugmug.com/The-Red-Centre-Wringer/2025

Simon Duke, last one standing!! 18 laps after one of the most brutal and coldest nights this winter.

Congratulations!!