About Popeye's Backyard Ultra

Popeye's Backyard Ultra
Greenland Open Space, Larkspur, Colorado
Saturday, April 3, 2027. First bell at 7:00 AM.

A last-runner-standing race on public land, run entirely on dirt, straight through until it's over.

Greenland sits on the Palmer Divide an hour south of Denver: 1,200 acres of Douglas County open space, rolling grassland, oak draws, ponderosa and rocky mesas with the Front Range filling the western horizon. Early April is the quiet season. The grass is gold, the cattle aren't out yet, and the weather can go from t-shirts to snow in the same day. The yard is a 4.167-mile (6.706 km) loop from the trailhead, dirt and crushed gravel start to finish.

First year

This is the first Popeye's. It will be run to the letter of the backyard rules whether 30 people start or 200: the bell on the hour, the corral, the timing, the aid station staffed until the last runner finishes alone. It exists because it is the race we would most want to run ourselves, and the plan is to ring that bell every April for the next thirty years.

How it works

Every hour on the hour the bell rings and everyone still in the race starts the yard together. Finish inside the hour and be in the corral for the next bell, and you go again. Miss either one and your race is over. There is no set distance and no time limit. When only one runner is left, that runner has to start the final yard alone and complete it to win. If no one can complete one more yard than everyone else, there is no winner. Everyone except the winner is a DNF. That's the format, and every yard you completed still counts and is reported.

Twenty-four yards is 100 miles. Most people won't get there. One person might. It's also the most welcoming ultra you'll ever enter: a yard in an hour is 14:24 per mile, so walking the hills and jogging the flats gets most people back with time to sit down. One yard is a trail race. Seven is more than a marathon. Twelve is 50 miles, with an aid station and your own chair waiting every hour. Stop whenever you want to.

Between yards you're at the trailhead with your crew, your food and the aid station. During a yard you're on your own: no personal aid, no pacers, and no leaving the course except for the restroom. Douglas County has permitted this race to run through the night on public trails. No cutoff, no hard stop.

Details

Date: Saturday, April 3, 2027. First bell 7:00 AM.
Location: Greenland Open Space, 1532 Noe Road, Larkspur, CO 80118. I-25 exit 167.
Parking: Greenland trailhead lot. Port-o-lets on site.
Aid: at the corral between yards. Crews welcome.
Gear: headlamp required for any yard that starts after sunset.
Field: 200 runners. Entry: $95, one price, no increases.
Registration closes March 31, 2027 at 11:59 PM MT.
Permit: Douglas County Open Space.

Official Backyard Ultra rules

Course: loop or out and back, 4.167 miles per yard. Starting corral: same size throughout the event; participants must be inside the corral at the bell. Yards: each starts precisely one hour after the last and must be completed in less than an hour to count; no leaving the course except for restroom breaks; no personal aid during a yard. Winner: the last person to complete a yard. If no participant can complete one more yard than anyone else, there is no winner. The race is open ended.

Popeye's is registered with the Backyard Ultra Association. Results are reported after the race and every yard counts in the world rankings.

Scott Schrader of The Stoke Fine Racing Events, Race Director

Event's current local time: 8:42 AM MT