Race planning
Plan Big Tex Backyard Ultra
Use the listed edition as your starting point. Each tool keeps imported race facts separate from the targets and assumptions you choose.
This is a past edition. These details are for reference; confirm a future edition before making a plan.
Edition notes: The fourth edition, on November 7–8, 2026. RunSignup’s official results list 161 runners and credit Kelly Swanson with the win and 37 laps. The separate Last Rucker Standing division has been folded into the main race: ruckers may still ruck, but there is no separate course or division this year. Big's race page lists the category as "Bronze". The organizer's site says TROT "has applied for a 2026 Bronze Coin and 2027 Silver Ticket", while its RunSignup page calls 2026 "a Bronze Ticket race". The organizer says live tracking will be posted but has not published the link yet. The TROT page calls 2026 both the "fourth year" and "year three"; RunSignup says year four, which matches results from 2023, 2024 and 2025.
- Listed edition
- Nov 7, 2026 – Nov 8, 2026
- Format
- Backyard Ultra
- Distance
- 4.167 mi every hour
- Local start time
- 8:00 AM Central, Saturday, November 7, 2026. Packet pickup and personal setup run from noon to 7:00 PM on Friday, November 6, at the park's Group Dining Hall.
- Duration / cutoff
- Each 4.167-mile yard must be finished within the hour, and runners must be back inside the corral before the top of the next hour, with whistle warnings at 3, 2 and 1 minutes. There is no fixed overall finish. The race continues until one runner completes a final yard alone, and that runner cannot continue beyond it. If nobody completes one more yard than everyone else, there is no winner.
- Crew and pacers
- No pacers and no aid from crew or anyone else during a yard. Crews help only at the start/finish, after a yard ends and before the next one starts. Each runner's setup in the grass area around the Group Dining Hall is limited to 10 ft by 10 ft and can go up from noon on Friday. The crew section permits one or two crew to stay overnight while their runner remains active, but the camping section prohibits family/crew camping there; confirm the permitted arrangement with TROT. No ground fires, smoking or loud music.
- Drop bags
- A group ground tarp at the start/finish holds drop bags, but runners are encouraged to set up their own area along the course line.
Recorded facts reviewed Nov 9, 2026. Check the organizer’s latest rules. Calendar downloads use all-day dates and do not set a starting alarm.
Pace & duration
Choose a distance target. Choose a planning duration; this race has no single recorded time limit to import.
Gear checklist
Start with the matching format checklist. Add the organizer’s mandatory gear.
Crew & drop bags
Bring across the race name. Add confirmed access points, distances and your own arrival estimates.
Planning hourly yards? Use the backyard calculator for loop pace and time between starts.