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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Helen Coffey

I tried the brutal running craze that’s totally addictive – here’s what it’s really like to do a backyard ultra

Sarah Perry United Kingdom Kent
On the run: The Vigo backyard ultra starts after dark - (Steve Wood)

It’s just before midnight and around 11 miles into my first ever backyard ultra that I start questioning several of my life choices – the top one being my decision to try the latest mad craze in endurance running without doing much in the way of actual training.

That’s swiftly followed by the decision to pop my backyard cherry with an event that starts at 9pm and involves running through the night. And then, hot on its heels, the choice of this particular course: an unnecessarily hardcore option that includes 102m of elevation, translating into one of the steepest, bleakest hill climbs I’ve ever encountered.

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