The Duff Dog Backyard Ultra attracted 17 athletes to the Blue Mounds State Park Saturday, Oct. 15.
Last year Luverne’s David Duffy hosted his first “ultra” running event that challenges athletes to complete 100 miles in one day.
There were seven participants in the 2021 event, so Duffy said he was pleased with the number of registered competitors.
“The talent we have this year is incredible. First, we have Tim Fryer and Eva Gut back from last year’s final two runners,” Duffy said. “If you remember, Tim outlasted Eva by completing 18 loops to Eva’s 17.”
He said in this year’s field there were several runners who had a chance to get to the 24-hour mark for 100 miles.
As it turned out, the longest holdouts in the 2022 event were Gut, 39, of Sioux Falls, and Fryer, 43, of Hendricks.
“Tim finished first, and the first thing he said to us was, ‘She’s gonna make it,’ and sure enough, a few minutes later here comes Eva,” Duffy said.
“She had a great day, with six hours more than last year and 3 yards farther than her goal this weekend. Way to go, Eva.”
After 23 hours (95.8 miles) Eva called it a day, remarking that she was glad she was able to “assist her good friend, Tim, on his journey to 100 miles.”
Mike Siebersma, 44, Arlington, South Dakota, ran for 20 hours and 83.3 miles, and 52-year-old Lance Smith of Sioux Falls ran 19 hours and 79.1 miles.
Complete results can be found on Duffy’s Facebook page under “Duff Dog Backyard Ultra.”
The backyard ultra is a form of ultramarathon race where competitors must consecutively run the distance of 6,706 meters (4.167 miles) in less than one hour.
When each lap is completed, the remaining time within the hour is typically used to recover for the next hour’s race.
The competition is for anyone to join and challenge themselves by running one hour, two hours or more.
Key milestones are Hour 6 at 25 miles, Hour 7 where runners surpass the marathon mark in mileage, Hour 12 when they hit 50 miles, Hour 18 at 75 miles and Hour 24, which is the 100-mile mark.
Duffy provided hourly updates on the runners through his Facebook page.