Mike Wardian Wins Quarantine Backyard Ultra Marathon After Running 422-Kilometer in 63 Hours
Professional ultra marathoner Mike Wardian won the Quarantine Backyard Ultra, a last-man-standing virtual race where runners need to complete a 4.167 mile loop every hour, after running 63 laps for 262.52 miles (approximately 422.48-kilometer) in 63 hours.
The race started at 9 a.m. ET on Saturday and ended in the late hours of Monday night. Over 1,000 people participated from around the world and was conducted over Zoom. Runners had to obey social distancing guidelines and run each lap alone before uploading their results to the website and fitness app Strava. The race was inspired by Big’s Backyard Ultra in Tennessee.
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Several professional runners were featured in the race including Wardian, Big’s Backyard champion Maggie Guterl and renowned ultra star Courtney Dauwalter. Some runners ran outdoors while others logged their mileage on a treadmill.
Sweden’s Anna Carlsson ended up being the last woman standing but dropped out after 44 hours. Then it was down to just two.
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The wild end to the #QuarantineBackyardUltra.
— Chris Chavez (@ChrisChavez) April 7, 2020
An emotional DQ decision from race director @runproctor & @PersonalPeakEC, @runner_cz explaining what happened & hopping back on his treadmill, @mikewardian declared the winner but believing he can go more if needed after 262+ miles pic.twitter.com/tlf01mH9iW
Wardian and Radek Brunner were locked in a duel since Monday morning. Wardian ran the same loop in his Arlington, Va. neighbourhood for more than 60 hours. Brunner opted for the treadmill in the Czech Republic.
Shortly after 11 p.m. on Monday night, race organisers from Personal Peak Endurance Coaching disqualified Brunner after he failed to start the 63rd loop on the hour. Wardian, who also works a full-time job as an international shipbroker, completed his lap and was named the winner.
Article Credit:
Original Author: Chris Chavez of Sports Illustrated
Article Syndicated from Sports Illustrated
