Bell Buckle, Tennessee · Trail
Big's Backyard Ultra 2026
Saturday, October 17, 2026 · Completed
World Team Championship year: 67 national teams of up to 15 started at the same moment at sites around the world, 07:00 Central in Bell Buckle, where Big's hosts the US team. Mauritius and Singapore withdrew before the start. The United States won the team title with 1,120 yards. The championship ended when Belgium's Ivo Steyaert and Merijn Geerts finished their 124th yard together and neither started the 125th, a backyard record of 124 yards with no winner of Belgium's race.
Results · 2026
men
- 1. Mark Dowdle (≈446 mi)107 yards
1 finisherFull results ↗
Results updated
How it went
Mark Dowdle won the 2026 race at Big's with 107 yards, about 446 miles, finishing the last yard alone on Wednesday evening after Jon Noll stopped at 106. He was the last of the 15 Americans standing, and his 1,120-yard team won the World Team Championship ahead of Australia on 1,069 and Belgium on 1,058. Harvey Lewis stopped after 83.
The longest race of the week was in Belgium, where Ivo Steyaert and Merijn Geerts ran 124 yards, about 517 miles, a backyard record. They passed Phil Gore's 119 together and stopped together after the 124th, so Belgium's race had no winner, the third time the pair have set the record that way.
Every year
- 2026October 17, 2026 · completedMark Dowdle 107 yards (≈446 mi)
- 2025October 18, 2025 · completedPhil Gore 114 yards (≈475 mi)