Backyard ultras, live to the last yard
Set the yard, ring the bell and let RunnerBeam do the counting. Automatic yard timing, a crew board for your marshals and a live results page built around the bell, from the first whistle to the last one standing.
Raced at the Mackyard Events backyard ultra, tracked live on RunnerBeam.
Yard 20
Next yard starts in
0:08
- #4 20 yards Miles Ahead 6:12 rest
- #31 20 yards Rhoda Loop 3:40 rest
- #27 20 yards Yardley Bell 1:58 rest
- #17 19 yards Willa Finish On course
- #8 19 yards Laura Lapp On course
- #9 19 yards Hugo First On course
- #22 19 yards Justin Time On course
- #12 19 yards Ivor Blister On course
Still in
27
of 168 starters
Closest call
59:06
Yard 10
Fastest yard
25:03
Yard 16
The loop
6.70 km
35 m climb, every hour
For organisers
Three settings and a bell
A backyard ultra on RunnerBeam is a loop event with a mass start. Pick the distance, the interval and the cap, and the rest of race day runs on the bell.
Set the yard
Enter the loop distance in km or miles, the interval between bells (an hour by default, or any interval you like) and an optional yard cap. Leave the cap off and the race runs until the last person standing.
Ring the bell
Race control starts the race and the bell schedule anchors to it. A geofenced finish line records every yard automatically, or timekeepers add times by hand from the marshal app.
Last one standing
Retire athletes who miss the bell or the cut-off in a tap, end the race on the final yard, and RunnerBeam names the winner and the assist.
Live results
A results page built around the bell
Web-based and open to anyone with the link, so crew, supporters at home and the screen in the race tent all see the same race.
Yard clock
Which yard is in play and how long until the next bell, ticking on every phone, laptop and big screen watching.
Yard board
Who is on course, who is back in the corral and who is out, on the same board your marshals run.
Standings
Yards completed and live status for every athlete, searchable by name or bib, with the winner's row lit up at the end.
Yard by yard
Starters and drop-outs for every yard, with a moon marking the yards run in the dark.
Time on feet and yard records
Cumulative time on feet for every athlete, plus the fastest yard and the closest call of the day.
Athlete pages
Every yard charted: time on feet, rest in the corral and daylight across the whole race, with per-yard splits.
Live tracking
Every metre of the loop
Your course drawn as a clean circuit, with every tracked runner placed on it as they go. Supporters can run a finger along the elevation profile to preview any point of the loop, from the start line to the top of the climb.
Course
Drag along the profile to preview the route
Athlete pages
One athlete, every yard
Every runner gets a page like this, live during the race and afterwards. This one is from The Mackyard x 4ZERO Ultra: 32 yards, 25 hours on feet, and a 33rd yard they never finished.
- Time on feet
- Rest
- DNF on yard 33
Made for the format
Backyard ultras break ordinary timing. Every yard starts on the hour, runners rest between them, and the race runs through the night. RunnerBeam's loop format is built around those rules rather than fighting them.
Pricing depends on your event - get in touch for a quote tailored to you.
No signal? Still in the race.
You leave a backyard ultra by missing the bell or the cut-off, never because of a missing GPS point. Anyone still racing is presumed to have completed every yard before the one in play, so a gap in coverage on the course never costs a result. Yards without a recorded crossing are marked as assumed and timed by the bell.
A yard board for your crew
Marshals and timekeepers run the field from a dedicated yard board in the RunnerBeam marshal app: record times, retire athletes and see who is still out on the course.
Late back? Handled.
Record a finish after the yard has closed and RunnerBeam flags the missed cut-off and offers to retire the athlete in the same step.
Official times, per yard
Every recorded crossing is filed under its yard. Pick the official time, fix a mix-up at the line, and it updates everywhere instantly.
Timed loops too
The same loop format runs continuous races: athletes lap at their own pace until the time cap. Six, twelve or twenty-four hours on one course.
In action
From the bell to the last yard
On the ground at the Mackyard Events backyard ultra.
Common questions
Does RunnerBeam support backyard ultras?
Yes. In the event portal, create a loop event with a mass-start cadence, enter the loop distance and the interval between bells (an hour by default), and either set a maximum number of yards or leave it uncapped for a last-one-standing race.
On race day, race control starts the race and the bell schedule anchors to it. A geofenced finish line records every yard automatically, timekeepers can add times by hand, and marshals manage retirements from the yard board in the marshal app.
Spectators follow a live results page built around the bell: the yard clock, standings, the yard board, attrition yard by yard and cumulative time on feet, plus a page for every athlete with their yards charted.
What happens if an athlete's yard crossing isn't recorded?
Their result is unaffected. In a backyard ultra an athlete is only out when they miss the bell or the cut-off, so RunnerBeam presumes every athlete still racing has completed each yard before the one in play, whether or not a crossing was recorded for it.
Yards without a recorded crossing, for example after a signal black spot on the course, are marked as assumed and timed by the bell schedule, so yard counts and cumulative time on feet stay complete. Recorded crossings are only used for per-yard stats such as the fastest yard, and timekeepers can add a missed time by hand at any point.
How does RunnerBeam decide the winner and the assist?
In an uncapped race, the last athlete still standing once everyone else has retired is named the winner, and the retired athlete who went furthest is named the assist. If several athletes fell on the same yard, they share the assist.
If you set a maximum number of yards, that cap is the finish line: every athlete who completes it is a finisher rather than a single winner. In both cases race control ends the race by confirming the final yard, and the race clock closes at the end of that yard.
More questions? Read the full FAQ
Ready to ring the bell?
Tell us about your backyard ultra and we'll get you set up for race day.