The body can achieve what the mind believes, which is exactly what British ultrarunner, Sarah Perry, 34, proved at the Backyard Ultra world championship last weekend. The math teacher set a new women’s record by completing 95 laps, or 395 miles, surpassing the previous record of 87 laps. Perry ran for 95 hours, taking only five- to 10-minute tent naps between laps.
Perry won her first Backyard Ultra in 2021 at the Backyard Ultra Cymru in Wales with 20 laps (83.3 miles) and followed that by winning the 2022 Cow Shed Backyard Ultra with 33 laps (137.4 miles). She earned her spot at the world championships in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, this year after setting the UK women’s record last year. She was one of just four women among 72 participants.
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If you’re not familiar with the format, Backyard Ultra races involve running laps of a 4.167-mile course on the hour, every hour, until a runner can no longer finish within the cutoff. The last person standing is declared the winner. And although Perry aimed to go even further, she ultimately had to bow out due to a back issue. Her average lap time was 51:13, per Athletics Weekly.
“I’ve got mixed emotions,” Perry said, per ESPN. “I’m quite disappointed that my back went when everything else was working so well. I had it in my legs and my head on reaching 100 laps, something I was really fixed on, but that’s ultrarunning. I love entering races or challenges that I’m not certain I can complete.”
On the men’s side, Australian Phil Gore claimed victory with 114 laps, just five short of his own men’s record.
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