Ryan Ward of Madison had one final loop to make within the one-hour cutoff early Monday morning at the Devil’s Race Track Backyard Ultra.
An event like this has much to do with windows and boxes. Backyard competitors have a one-hour window to complete a 4.167-mile loop. They have a box, or corral, at the starting line to be in to start the next loop. The course is a box, of sorts, the same route over and over and over with no deviation. Mentally, you box out pretty much everything to focus on pace, rhythm, the goal to complete the loop
The last man standing in a backyard ultra must do the last circuit as a solo endeavor. After hours, and sometimes days, a lone, exhausted, sleep-deprived runner must go out, possibly in the darkness, to navigate the twists, turns, roots, rocks and whatever else is going on inside their head. They must the finish line before the clock switches from :59 to :00, signifying the next hour and a win or loss.
Ward, 29, was the lone runner, and did indeed return before the clock struck :00 at Wade Mountain Nature Preserve in north Huntsville. He won the sixth annual endurance event with 18 yards, or loops, totaling 75 miles. It is the fourth-best performance in race history.
Forty-two runners started the race at 7 a.m. Sunday; it was pushed back a day due to Hurricane Isaias blowing through on Saturday. At the Devil’s event, at night the runners switch from trails to road as a safety precaution.
Sam Schofield, 24, of Milton, Fla., escaped the weekend wrath of the gulf hurricane and won the women’s title with a record performance. She finished with 14 yards, or 58.338 miles, which is No. 2 in the women’s Top 10 records.
Ward and Schofield maintained consistent times on each yard throughout. The first loop normally is a bit faster than others, as adrenaline and excitement kick up runners’ times by a few minutes. But it provides a rhythm for the rest, and both winners hit roughly 50-minute marks throughout. A couple of 48s and 51s dotted their ledgers. Schofield’s final circuit was 55:50, amost six minutes slower than the previous.
Jordan Malin, 27, of Gadsden, was second with 17 loops. Officially, a backyard ultra has only one finisher. Everyone else is considered DNF, but obviously the mileage and standings are cool to scan to check yards, times and finishers.
Stephen Rodgers, 24, of Graysville, Tenn., was third with 16 yards.
Devils Race Track runners start in the nature preserve Spragins Trailhead parking lot, take a short road jaunt to separate the pack and then hit the trails. They’re mostly single-track, with a mix of rocks, roots, a few slick areas after rain and mostly runnable paths. Devils Racetrack tops out on the mountain with a nice loop, offering views south toward Huntsville along with the occasional rattlesnake, deer or coyote.
The race is put on by Fringe Events, which also stages the Blue Heron Hundreds in April.
