World Record Madness | Backyard Ultra Team Championships

[@thijsburms9037]

They truely are the 3 legends of Belgian backyarding. Everyone could have predicted that they would be the last 3 standing in Belgium. I kind of like that they finished it together, after sharing 110 hours of running together with the rest of the team. This edition was a team event and not an individual event, so I don't see the need to have only one team member remaining and finish solo. Massive kudos to Merijn, Ivo and Frank the Tank 💪

[@rennleitung_7]

@thijsburms9037 I agree. Not just the three guys, all of the Belgiums were a great team. I think they outclassed the rest of the world, because they supported each other right from the start.

[@thomwhiffen4867]

Kudos to them. Right decision. Love the team spirit and togetherness.

[@richardfranklin2913]

After such an incredible display of human endurance and teamwork they can do what ever they like! Over 450 miles and no meaningful sleep for five days they kept us absolutely riveted to the various media updates every 50 minutes. I can't even start to imagine the how their minds process things amidst the trance state and hallucinations that their bodies must go through. - Okay, disqualify them - don't recognise the record - would Harvey accept he was still the champion? Would Big Dogs be the true apotheosis if the Belgians were not there? What Laz has created is a thing of beauty and no backroom, rulebook lawyer should be allowed to spoil it!

[@FilmMyRun]

@@richardfranklin2913 it’s a good shout! Well spoken. Anyone for the rebuff?!!

[@jonathancost4927]

I think the records have to recognised without question, it was an incredible achievement by all involved. At the end of the day I guess Lazarus' decision is final. What was his decision by the way?

[@scottb3372]

They did the right thing. The clues in the name ‘Team’

[@FilmMyRun]

Indeed. However, within that team competition is an individual competition also. I still think it’s a subject worthy of debate. What does it mean to win, to compete?

[@scottb3372]

@ They ran as a Team and took a Team decision to stop. Doesnt get better than that.

[@stephen8983]

Laz strikes me as a rebel at heart, so maybe he actually enjoys the fact that the Belgians have essentially given his rules the middle finger in the past two world championships. For me, they’ve earned the right to do whatever they want after 110 yards. I’m pretty sure it won’t be the same situation if the three of them are still going at Big’s next year. Of course you could ‘punish’ them by not allowing DNFs onto the at large list, but would you really want to exclude the three best backyarders from the flagship event?? Anyone who is salty, the solution is easy, 111 yards… put up or shut up.

[@FilmMyRun]

@@stephen8983 nice Stephen, thanks. Haha I think I agree with you about Laz!

[@runhanrunnl]

I applaud the Belgian TEAM. This is a TEAM event, so it should be treated as such, whereby a TEAM sets teh result. Finishing as a TEAM is as strong as it can be.

[@FilmMyRun]

@@runhanrunnl good words

[@phynn2377]

Ok I know its feels wrong that none of the 3 wanted to run 1 more loop to win outright. From an outside perspective it feels like a bit of a shame that we can't quite say 1 person won to get the WR, that perhaps one of them could have gone further. However, try to put yourself in their shoes for a moment. For day after day they have been part of the best team in the world, mutually supporting and motivating each other to keep going. Eventually, 3 runners are left, just a few laps from the WR. They each owe the others something for being part of that team that helped them get were they are now. Finally, the 3 of them break the WR, reaching 110 laps. They each know what it took to get here, what we can only imagine, and know that they all deserve the WR that all 3 of them earned. What I'm trying to say is that without the loyalty and friendship that made them feel that stopping together was the right thing to do, they never would have made it further than any one person has been before. I could be completely wrong about all of this, but watching the event as it happened, this felt like the right ending.

[@FilmMyRun]

Yes, I understand. It's very difficult to ignore all that shared time and energy spent together helping each other to get through.

[@djclass005]

Mondo Duplantis also breaks the world record by 1 centimeter, they did 2 yards more! That’s already 1 too many!😂🎉

[@FilmMyRun]

@@djclass005 Duplantis is awesome. What a 100 metre race that was as well!!

[@TanyaOct]

It's like the battle royale of running

[@FilmMyRun]

Some big names in there for sure. Was an amazing championships

[@SimonNewell-g6c]

Absolutely zero incentive to carry on. They’ve each qualified for Bigs and team Belgium has already won.

[@FilmMyRun]

Yes, agree. Golden ticket not required, at Large list secured, Team win and world record. Why bother carrying on. Totally get it.

[@FinnimoresFarmhouse]

Nice one Stephen👍thank you 🙏 very informative. Learnt lots of new information about backyard ultras. 👍

[@jonathancost4927]

@@FinnimoresFarmhouse But what’s your opinion on the result Clive?

[@FinnimoresFarmhouse]

@@jonathancost4927 I think they went through such an adventure together the end result didn’t matter as long as they finished as a team…. It was their decision to stop together and I respect them for that 💪👍 good effort.. there’s no I in team….

[@FilmMyRun]

It depends how you spell tiiiim Clive. hahaha

[@FinnimoresFarmhouse]

@@FilmMyRun 😂

[@jonathancost4927]

@@FinnimoresFarmhouse But there is a 'me'.

[@marlinweekley51]

Agree they are the team champions but no individual record since individually they all DNFed ???🤔

[@123sjonny]

I get that they finished together. I read in an interview that one of them got lost on the xth lap, and another one went back a bit to find him. There was more than one cases like that. if you beat your teammates after they helped you get to 110 (and deep down you know you might not have been there at 110 without your teammates), I don't think you feel very motivated to beat them as well. And for the people who have a problem with how the belgians handled it, I'd say, better hope Laz changes the rules. The rules only say "If no runner can complete one more loop than anyone else, there is no winner", since the belgians didn't care about an individual winner and the laps they ran would count either way, they did nothing wrong. But to be honest, if Laz doesn't change this rule, they'll probably do this again if they get the chace. So long story short, if we want to see what the belgians are truely capable of during th WTC, Laz needs to change the rules or one of the other countries needs to step it up to force the belgians to their limits.

[@AaronRobinson67]

storm in your teacup

[@stijnbeckers1694]

How can ignore those 110 laps? The competition from the other countries was just not good enough. That’s why they could decide on a tie. Next time the competition knows what to do and try to beat the Belgians.

[@FilmMyRun]

We can't ignore the 110 yards. And I think that's why we are talking about it. If the race had only gone to say 48 yards for example, the punishment of not getting the golden ticket would be enough, because the tied runners would not get on the at large list either. But because they achieved such an incredible number, the draw is forgotten and is really irrelevant to the runners as they have all they came for anyway.

[@Diegozijnyoutube]

For the keyboard warriors thinking they are judges, reading the rules and understanding them would be in order. 6) Winner/Results . The winner is the last person to complete a loop . All others are technically DNF . Results of each runner in terms of distance covered are to be given. . If no runner can complete one more loop than anyone else, there is no winner.

[@markcameron3]

I noticed this in some athletic events, competitors can continue until one loses or they call it a draw

[@FilmMyRun]

True, but in this event, there is technically supposed to be a winner.

[@markcameron3]

@@FilmMyRun I'd expect there to be a winner in something like the high jump, but they've gone soft and allowed a draw, which thankfully they don't in the backyard, you're both losers. Imagine the FA cup final, teams drawn at full time, and ref asks if they want to continue to extra time and penalties, or just call it a draw and share the title - ridiculous

[@jensmith3719]

@@markcameron3 doesnt quite compare to a football match,

[@de3broertjes]

If you want to be really critical Stephen do 111 yards just to show them and us how it's done.

[@FilmMyRun]

@@de3broertjes I dam well will!!!! Haha, to be fair you won’t see me anywhere near a backyard ultra. It’s definitely for a breed much hardier than I.

[@tomrunner3908]

I wish I could do the backyard I'm definitely I would win it but my dad would not pay for it because he says it's dangerous and worst part is I not allowed to work only in charity but they don't pay you if someone would pay for this race I would pay them back with prize money plus extra I done the 100 km at south downs Eastbourne to Arundelt I need it to bagged my dad to sigh me up for the race he said I should not run any longer then 100 km this is why I need help from someone to sigh me up

[@rennleitung_7]

In my simple world of sports there are athletes and bystanders. Sometimes staff, like Gary, coaches, managers pretend to be athletes, but at the end of the day it's the athletes who run, jump, swim, row, lift whatsoever. In this world the opinions of athletes matter, bystanders are close to meaningless. In this case it was a team event, when the Belgium team reached the 100 miles. It was a team event, when the Belgium team reached the 200 miles and it still was a team event, when three of them reached the 110 yards. To say otherwise is just the kind of stuff bystanders say. If you're not ok with the Belgians, you can simply run 111 yards and put them a little bit down the list. But I suppose, you need to be an athlete to do it.

[@FilmMyRun]

@@rennleitung_7 you make an excellent point until you remember that sport is governed by rules which are often set by non athletes. Athletes cannot simply do what they like regardless. Now in this particular situation yes of course it’s fine and we are all in awe of the achievement. But it’s not true to say that bystanders are meaningless. Tell that to the fans standing on the Kop at Anfield sucking the ball into the net!!

[@rennleitung_7]

Sorry, I didn't make clear, that athletes should play by the rules and you need staff to ensure, that they play by rules. Do you remember Suffolk, when Oriol came in with 5 seconds left? I think, we both can agree, this is a sport with fascinating moments and surprising outcomes.

[@FilmMyRun]

@ absolutely

[@crazypolishvegan7369]

Well done to these THREE Belgian DNF's 🤭 No winner, next, move on 😀

[@shemhaque2758]

How on earth is Israel allowed to compete?!?

[@jonathancost4927]

Rules are rules Stephen, and BYU rules state that there has to be a winner, a tie is not allowed, otherwise the event is classed as a failed event, you said this yourself. Therefore, Belgium should have been DQ’d, simple, they broke the rules!

[@FilmMyRun]

I guess Laz makes the rules and he can decide what to do in such cases. He probably feels t would be churlish to enact the rules so aggressively in the face of such an accomplishment. That said he is very strict on some rules. See if the race had only gone to say 48 yards for example, the punishment of not getting the golden ticket would be enough, because the tied runners would not get on the at large list either.

[@critercat]

The rules have been enforced perfectly. There was no winner. They still get credit for the laps run, but none of them is a national champion, and none of them get a golden ticket. If the rule was that only the winner’s laps count (in other words, everyone but the winner is DQ rather than DNF), then the sport would make no sense. For example, you’d have to say that Megan’s new women’s WR doesn’t count because she didn’t win. The truth is, yards completed always have counted, and the Belgians ran 110 yards, so they get credit for them, whether they DNF’d or won outright.

[@jonathancost4927]

Interesting Critercat. So did Belgium not win the competition?

[@critercat]

@@jonathancost4927 Yes, of course, because the Belgian team completed the most yards.

[@jonathancost4927]

But Critercat, you said there was no winner?

[@Nono-de3zi]

I think they are gaming the competition. Because they are on the at-large list, they know they will go to Tennessee. I think their race should be cancelled and their record... not recorded. In other sports they would be disqualified. There are rules. You follow them. Period.

[@FilmMyRun]

It's a hard line but a fair one Nono!! haha

[@Nono-de3zi]

@@FilmMyRun Matt and John did not do so in 2021. They followed the rules, and gave us an epic competition (perfectly captured by an excellent movie...). That is what all this is about. The aim is not to beat distances. There are actually ultras that are longer. The aim is to be the last one standing. Which involves physical prowess, but also mental strength. Since they all reach 110, they could have gone longer.

[@Diegozijnyoutube]

You should read the rules before being the internet judge. Rules where followed, the result is correct to the rules. 6) Winner/Results . The winner is the last person to complete a loop . All others are technically DNF . Results of each runner in terms of distance covered are to be given. . If no runner can complete one more loop than anyone else, there is no winner.

[@FilmMyRun]

@@Diegozijnyoutube I think the nuance is in the sentence….’if no runner can complete another loop….’ The argument would be from others that at least one of them could have completed another loop.

[@rennleitung_7]

The argument is not valid, because neither do you know if the Belgians could've completed another yard, nor do you know why someone else stopped. Maybe Packbier thought, we beat the Germans, let's call it a day. Same with Crawford. He migh have thought, beat the US and pretty safe on the at large list, let's call it a day. That's why I would like to see a strict team event. Yards count as long as all team members finish in time. Maybe you have 10, 12 or 15 members. Let the team decide, but it's over as soon as your team doesn't bring everybody home in time.

[@ggbarnum765]

Record should be null and void unless there is a true winner in line with the rules. That's the ethos of the event, go til you can't go an more. Its disrespecting the event to quit like that.

[@Diegozijnyoutube]

So with that logic, anyone who isn't the last man standing has no true personal best laps, they should be void and nullified to hell. Also the rules state that in order that on the last lap the person does not finish said last lap they still are a DNF, so in the spirit of the rules this happened. So the rules were followed.