481 yards and a new Irish record: what Team Ireland learned at the Backyard Ultra World Team Championship
Team Ireland finished 27th of 67 nations in Florence Court. The runners explain what stopped them and what they would tell the next wave of Irish backyard runners.
By Sean Clifford · · Race Report
Team Ireland set a new national record of 481 yards to finish 27th of 67 nations at the Backyard Ultra World Team Championship. The runners share what went wrong, what stopped them, and their best advice for anyone taking on a backyard in Ireland.
A new Irish record
Team Ireland finished 27th of 67 nations at the Big's Backyard Ultra World Team Championship last weekend. The 15 runners' combined 481 yards is a new Irish record, 37 yards better than the old mark. Fifteen runners started at Florence Court, Co. Fermanagh, at 13:00 on Saturday 17 October. All 67 nations started at the same moment on home soil. Each team member scores one point for every 6.7 km loop finished inside the hour, and the team with the most points wins.
Team manager PJ said the result came from the team pulling together. "We looked really strong at loop 27 with all 15 runners still moving and securing points," he said. "The first night was very cold and a second night of freezing conditions took its toll on a lot of the team. It is difficult for ultra runners to switch from individual mentality to team mentality. The team really adapted to this and dragged each other through loops."
{results=race:e989772b-2ff0-4977-b119-dca101d96c4d/2026} He was also clear about the size of the gap. "We have a long way to go to get close to the big guns," he said. He called for more races, more venues "even with less elevation", and more sponsorship ahead of 2028. Anyone with an idea for a race or a venue is asked to contact him or Tom Owens.