Texas Backyard Ultra Series

🔓 Circuit Standings Alex Rubio leads the circuit.
99 athletes aren't on the board yet.

Big Bastrop moved six athletes onto the board, and Rubio's 43.0 points sit on top. 99 more have banked loops from Rodeo, Austin's and Bastrop and are still waiting to unlock. The Official Master Standings only show athletes who have run two circuit events.

Gulf Coast is the last unlock. February 13 at Matagorda Bay. One start line, and every loop you ran this year counts. 

See the full circuit standings → 🤠 Texas Backyard Ultra Series THE LAST
FRONTIER
CIRCUIT Four Venues  ·  One Season  ·  One Champion

No finish lines. No fixed distances. Just one 4.167-mile loop every hour until only one Texan is still standing.

Register for the Series → Stay Connected

4.167 Miles per loop One yard. Exactly 100 miles every 24 hours if you last that long.

:60 Minutes on the clock One loop per hour, on the hour. You're in the corral or you're out.

1 Soloist remains There is no finish line. Only a last one standing.

4 Texas venues Four landscapes. Four seasons. One frontier circuit.

What Is This A season-long championship
across Texas.

Brought to you by the team behind Run A Backyard Ultra, The Last Frontier Circuit is a multi-venue points series that crowns the ultimate endurance champion of the Lone Star State. Complete two or more events, stack your yards, and climb the master leaderboard.

2+ Events Required Compete in at least two circuit races to unlock your spot on the master leaderboard.

1.5× Rodeo Multiplier The brutal Rodeo terrain pays 1.5 pts per loop. Stack your advantage early.

+5 Last One Standing Win any event and earn five bonus points. The crown stays in play all season.

🗺️ The Circuit Lineup Four landscapes.
Four seasons.
Four kinds of suffering.

Each race is its own battle. Together they determine who rules the frontier.

Spring 01 The Grit Rodeo Trail Run Backyard Ultra 📍 Spicewood, Texas ✓ 2026 complete: Nate Ulrici, last one standing. Alex Rubio, the assist.

Rugged, technical Hill Country terrain designed to test early-season limits. The most demanding course on the circuit, and it rewards you for it.

⛰️ 1.5× Points Per Loop Race Page & Registration → Late May 02 The Foundation Austin's Backyard Ultra 📍 Turkey Bend Recreation Area ✓ 2026 complete: Sarah Sharpe, last one standing at 28 yards. Rachel Moore, the assist at 26.

Texas Hill Country at the edge of summer. An unforgiving late-May sun that challenges the state's most serious endurance runners.

Race Page & Registration → Autumn 03 The Loam Big Bastrop Backyard Ultra 📍 Lake Bastrop ✓ Inaugural edition complete: Samuel Kirk, last one standing at 16 yards (66.7 miles). Matthew Lawrence, the assist at 15.

Set deep in the iconic lost pines and sandy loam. The inaugural edition is in the books, and its yards now count toward the final standings.

Race Page & Registration → WINTER 04 The SALT Gulf Coast Backyard Ultra  📍 Matagorda Bay Nature Park  ·  February 13, 2027  ·  Season finale

Where the Colorado finally meets the Gulf, and where the season ends. Packed sand, rock levee, and open beach at the end of the river. Flat, wide open, and the only hill is the wind. The crown gets decided here. Last one standing wins the sea. 

Race Page & Registration →

 

🏆 Series Scoring The Last Texan Standing:
How Points Work

Backyard ultra scoring is simple. The series layer adds strategy. Here's exactly how your loops turn into the championship title.

01 🎯 The Two-Race Minimum

To appear on the official Master Circuit Standings, you must record completed loops at a minimum of two of our four circuit events. Run one event and your points still bank, but your name doesn't unlock on the master leaderboard until you hit that second starting corral.

02 📊 The Math: 1 Loop = 1 Point

Your score is based entirely on distance not position, not pace. At Big Bastrop, every loop you finish before the 60-minute bell earns exactly 1 point. At Austin's Backyard it earns you 1.1 points. 

Example: tap out after 12 hours (the 50-mile mark) and you walk away with 12 points. 1.5× The Rodeo Multiplier ⛰️ Rodeo Points Per Loop

Not all trails are equal. Because of the brutal terrain and sheer physical toll of the Rodeo Backyard Ultra, every completed loop is worth 1.5 points. Grind out a 50-miler (12 loops) at Rodeo and you're banking 18 points, not 12.

Loops	Distance	Bastrop & Matagorda / Austin	Rodeo (1.5×)
4 loops	16.6 mi	4 pts / 4.4 pts	6 pts
12 loops	50 mi	12 pts / 13.2 pts	18 pts
24 loops	100 mi	24 pts / 26.4 pts	36 pts

03 ⚡ Bonus Points for the Final Survivors

The deep-mileage battles that happen when the field thins out deserve extra weight. Flat bonus points go to the last two athletes not affected by the Rodeo multiplier.

+5 Last Person Standing Win the race. Earn five bonus points on top of your total loop score.

+3 The Assist Complete the second-to-last loop. Three bonus points for making it a battle.

💡 The Strategy

If you want to win the circuit, you can't cruise through one event. You need massive yards and you absolutely want to take advantage of the point-heavy Rodeo course to launch yourself up the standings early in the season. The crown stays up for grabs until the final yard is run.

Show Up. Line Up. WILL YOU BE
THE LAST TEXAN
STANDING?

Three venues down. The crown gets decided at Matagorda Bay on February 13. Register and take your shot at the Last Frontier Circuit title.

Backyard Ultra: Official Race Rules
Backyard Ultra is a unique format of endurance running. It is not a race for a set distance, nor a race for a set time. The objective is for each runner to cover the maximum distance possible for their level of ability. There is only one winner, the runner who covers the greatest total distance, but every participant plays a role in the outcome, and many runners will achieve distances they never thought possible along the way.

1. Starting Corral
   All runners must be inside the corral before the starting bell.
   2. Starting Each Yard
   Each "Yard" (one loop of the course) begins exactly one hour after the previous Yard started.
   Runners will receive warnings at 3 minutes, 2 minutes, and 1 minute before the starting bell.
   All runners must start at the bell. Late starts are not permitted. If you are not in the corral at the bell, your race is over.
   3. During a Yard
   Once a Yard begins, runners may not leave the course except for restroom breaks.
   No non-competitors, including runners who have already been eliminated, may accompany an active runner on the course.
   No personal aid (food, water, pacing, coaching, etc.) is allowed while a Yard is in progress.
   Each Yard must be completed in under one hour to count. Any runner who does not finish the loop within the hour is eliminated.
   No artificial aids of any kind are permitted, including trekking poles.
   Faster runners have the right of way. Slower runners must yield and allow themselves to be passed.
   4. Timing
   Keeping individual lap times is optional and left to each runner's discretion.
   5. Winner and Results
   The winner is the last runner remaining who successfully completes one more Yard than every other competitor.
   All other runners, including the second-place finisher, are officially recorded as DNF (Did Not Finish).
   Final results will list every runner's total number of Yards completed.
   If the field cannot produce a runner who completes one more Yard than all others (for example, if the last two runners both stop at the same point), no winner will be declared for that edition of the race.
   
2.  
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4. To be declared the winner of any backyard ultra on the Last Frontier Circuit, the last runner must start the final yard alone and complete it within the hour. If two or more runners start a yard and only one returns in time, that runner must start and complete one more yard alone to claim the win.
5.  
   
6. By registering for this event, all runners agree to abide by these rules. Any runner who does not start at the bell, leaves the course during an active Yard (except for a restroom break), receives outside aid, or fails to complete a Yard within one hour will be marked as eliminated.

Register for the Series →

Follow the journey on Instagram @lastfrontiercircuit  ·  fitfoundation.org/run-a-backyard-ultra

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