Page published October 20, 2026 · Editorial update October 23, 2026 · Roster snapshot October 20, 2026
Big’s Backyard 2027
Seventy-five runners. Fifty national champions, twenty-five from the At-Large list. A winner must finish one extra yard; otherwise the race has no winner.
The next individual world championship at Big Dog’s Backyard is filled in two ways. The top 50 national champions from the 2026 World Team Championship earn berths, and 25 more places go to the longest results of the two-year At-Large window. Not every national champion makes it: 67 nations started in 2026. This page tracks both routes.
Checked October 20, 2026 · Champion ranking rule not yet published
Win your country, or run further than almost anyone
Top 50 national champions
A runner who completes one more yard than every opponent wins the national race; there is no champion if nobody completes that extra yard. The top 50 of those champions earn a berth.
25 from the At-Large list
The remaining places go to the top performances on the organizer’s At-Large list, a worldwide ranking of backyard results.
Two years of results
At-Large results count from August 16, 2025 to August 15, 2027, so the list keeps moving for ten more months.
Ranking and overlaps
The organizer does not say how champions are ranked, or what happens when a runner qualifies by both routes.
The 2026 team championship decides the national champions. Read how it works and the results in the World Team Championship guide. For the race itself, its history and the 2025 result, see the Big’s Backyard Ultra guide.
National champions so far
Every national race of the 2026 team championship is over. 65 produced a champion. Belgium’s did not, because Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert stopped together after a world-record 124 yards, and Spain’s will be re-run. That makes 66 champions for 50 places, one of them still to come from Spain. Ranked by completed yards, 49 champions are inside the top 50 whatever happens, down to 36 yards. 2 sit on the line. From 32 yards down, 14 champions are outside it. The organizer has not said that yards decide the order, so treat this as a projection.
| Rank | Champion | Nation | Yards | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1–2 | Mark Dowdle | United States | 107 | Inside 50 |
| 2–3 | Kazuhiro Kawahata | Japan | 105 | Inside 50 |
| 3–4 | Christophe Baud | France | 101 | Inside 50 |
| 4–5 | Dave Phillips | United Kingdom | 90 | Inside 50 |
| 5–6 | Dan Camac | Australia | 87 | Inside 50 |
| 6–7 | Michał Sitarek | Poland | 83 | Inside 50 |
| 7–8 | Michael Serani | Canada | 82 | Inside 50 |
| 8–9 | Ivan Zaborsky | AIN | 81 | Inside 50 |
| 9–10 | Sam Harvey | New Zealand | 77 | Inside 50 |
| 10–12 | Anders Johnsen | Norway | 73NR | Inside 50 |
| 10–12 | Rodolfo Ramírez Leonides | Mexico | 73 | Inside 50 |
| 12–14 | Martin Stiller | Germany | 69 | Inside 50 |
| 12–14 | Gunnar Karlsson | Iceland | 69NR | Inside 50 |
| 14–16 | Adam Kertesz | Hungary | 63 | Inside 50 |
| 14–16 | Luciano Pappalettera | Netherlands | 63NR | Inside 50 |
| 16–17 | Mihail Balica | Romania | 62 | Inside 50 |
| 17–18 | David Stoltenborg | Denmark | 60 | Inside 50 |
| 18–19 | Niklas Sjoblom | Sweden | 58 | Inside 50 |
| 19–20 | Vittorio Silva | Italy | 55 | Inside 50 |
| 20–23 | Stefan Wilfinger | Austria | 52 | Inside 50 |
| 20–23 | Paulo Sérgio Andrade Oliveira | Brazil | 52 | Inside 50 |
| 20–23 | Verneri Teppo | Finland | 52 | Inside 50 |
| 23–24 | Cristian Bartolochini | Argentina | 51NR | Inside 50 |
| 24–27 | Julija Soryte | Lithuania | 49 | Inside 50 |
| 24–27 | Paulo Moreira | Portugal | 49NR | Inside 50 |
| 24–27 | Savaş Lütfi Kara | Turkey | 49 | Inside 50 |
| 27–29 | Ido Dassa | Israel | 48NR | Inside 50 |
| 27–29 | Ronnel Yongot | Philippines | 48NR | Inside 50 |
| 29–30 | Brahim Aldaz | Morocco | 47NR | Inside 50 |
| 30–31 | Mitesh Vijayvargiy | India | 45 | Inside 50 |
| 31–35 | Ilias Tsaparelis | Greece | 43NR | Inside 50 |
| 31–35 | Reyna Raymundo | Guatemala | 43NR | Inside 50 |
| 31–35 | Ritvars Kalniņš | Latvia | 43 | Inside 50 |
| 31–35 | Nima Javaheri | Switzerland | 43 | Inside 50 |
| 35–36 | Bojana Gostan | Slovenia | 42NR | Inside 50 |
| 36–40 | José Antonio Rodríguez Pinzon | Colombia | 41NR | Inside 50 |
| 36–40 | Milan Hauer | Czechia | 41 | Inside 50 |
| 36–40 | Kaur Alle | Estonia | 41 | Inside 50 |
| 36–40 | Thembinkosi Sojola | South Africa | 41 | Inside 50 |
| 40–42 | Jose Luis Guzman | Bolivia | 40 | Inside 50 |
| 40–42 | Lialbert Marrufo | Venezuela | 40NR | Inside 50 |
| 42–45 | Wayne McGuigan | Ireland | 39 | Inside 50 |
| 42–45 | King'ori Wanjiru | Kenya | 39NR | Inside 50 |
| 42–45 | Jonatan Rodrigo Torena Rodríguez | Uruguay | 39 | Inside 50 |
| 45–47 | Victor Muñoz Garcia | Chile | 38 | Inside 50 |
| 45–47 | Anatolii Verbivskyi | Ukraine | 38 | Inside 50 |
| 47–48 | Milan Kralik | Slovakia | 37 | Inside 50 |
| 48–50 | Naim Selloum | Algeria | 36 | Inside 50 |
| 48–50 | Marius Kouakou | Côte d’Ivoire | 36 | Inside 50 |
| 50–52 | Nikolay Hristov | Bulgaria | 34NR | On the line |
| 50–52 | Ray Grech | Malta | 34 | On the line |
| 52–53 | Cosmas Bwalya | Zambia | 32NR | Outside 50 |
| 53–54 | Ricardo Arias | Paraguay | 31NR | Outside 50 |
| 54–56 | 高正治 | Chinese Taipei | 29 | Outside 50 |
| 54–56 | Jamal Said | Pakistan | 29 | Outside 50 |
| 56–59 | John Witton | Brunei | 27NR | Outside 50 |
| 56–59 | Julio Cesar Sharup Guanuchi | Ecuador | 27 | Outside 50 |
| 56–59 | Arjun Kulung Rai | Nepal | 27 | Outside 50 |
| 59–60 | Livio Feliz | Dominican Republic | 26 | Outside 50 |
| 60–64 | Florin Teleman | Bermuda | 25 | Outside 50 |
| 60–64 | Kendall Picado Fallas | Costa Rica | 25 | Outside 50 |
| 60–64 | Ramon Arceo Rodriguez | Cuba | 25 | Outside 50 |
| 60–64 | Wayne Cassidy | Tajikistan | 25 | Outside 50 |
| 64–65 | Tobias Verwey | Namibia | 23 | Outside 50 |
| 65–66 | Willie David Christopher | Malaysia | 21 | Outside 50 |
The At-Large top 25 in the October 20 snapshot
The top of the organizer’s 2027 roster table, read on October 20, 2026. All 100 rows were still marked At-Large; no champion berths were listed yet. W and A mark the winner and assist of the qualifying race. The list runs until 15 August 2027, so it will change.
| # | Runner | Nation | Yards | Qualifying race |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Phil Gore (W) | AUS | 114 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 2 | Łukasz Wróbel (W) | POL | 114 | Legends Backyard Belgium · 25 Apr 2026 |
| 3 | Ivo Steyaert (A) | BEL | 113 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 4 | Oriol Antolí Sarrau (A) | ESP | 113 | Legends Backyard Belgium · 25 Apr 2026 |
| 5 | Harvey Lewis | USA | 111 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 6 | Jon Noll | USA | 111 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 7 | Merijn Geerts | BEL | 110 | Legends Backyard Belgium · 25 Apr 2026 |
| 8 | Kazuhiro Kawahata | JPN | 106 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 9 | Nicolas Cointepas | FRA | 105 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 10 | Christophe Baud | FRA | 100 | Legends Backyard Belgium · 25 Apr 2026 |
| 11 | Hendrik Boury | GER | 100 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 12 | Patrik Hrotek | SVK | 98 | Legends Backyard Belgium · 25 Apr 2026 |
| 13 | Brecht Vandamme | BEL | 98 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 14 | Rodolfo Ramirez Leonides | MEX | 96 | Legends Backyard Belgium · 25 Apr 2026 |
| 15 | Sarah Perry | GBR | 95 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 16 | Mark Dowdle (W) | USA | 94 | Last Soul Ultra · 14 Aug 2026 |
| 17 | Ayyoub El Osrouti (A) | GER | 93 | Last Soul Ultra · 14 Aug 2026 |
| 18 | Dan Camac | AUS | 93 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 19 | Megan Eckert | USA | 92 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 20 | Jan Vandekerckhove | BEL | 88 | Legends Backyard Belgium · 25 Apr 2026 |
| 21 | Niklas Yjord | SWE | 87 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 22 | Christophe Rouat (W) | FRA | 86 | Ultra Tour du Lac de Monteux Backyard · 2 Oct 2025 |
| 23 | Niklas Sjoblom | SWE | 86 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 |
| 24 | Marius Kouakou (A) | CIV | 85 | Ultra Tour du Lac de Monteux Backyard · 2 Oct 2025 |
| 25 | Vadim Sharkov (W) | RUS | 84 | Mari Forest Run: March · 7 Mar 2026 |
| 26 | Viktor Mynza (A) | RUS | 83 | Mari Forest Run: March · 7 Mar 2026 · next in line |
| 27 | Michael Zaruba (W) | RUS | 82 | Derzhis v Derzhavino · 13 Sept 2025 · next in line |
| 28 | Dmitry Sheremet (A) | RUS | 81 | Derzhis v Derzhavino · 13 Sept 2025 · next in line |
| 29 | Greg Fall | USA | 80 | Big’s Backyard Ultra · 18 Oct 2025 · next in line |
| 30 | Norman Mascher-Aspensjö | GER | 80 | Last Soul Ultra · 14 Aug 2026 · next in line |
Big’s 2025 supplies 13 of the top 25, Legends Backyard Belgium in April 2026 seven. Mark Dowdle and Ello El Osrouti are in from Last Soul Ultra, where they finished first and second in August. Russian runners appear under RUS here; at the 2026 team championship they raced as the neutral AIN team. Niklas Sjoblom and Marius Kouakou, both national champions in 2026, also sit inside the 25. The list did not yet include any result from the 2026 team championship, where Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert set a world record of 124 yards, longer than anything on it.
Big’s Backyard Ultra 2027: Wer sich qualifiziert
Die nächste Einzel-WM startet am 16. Oktober 2027 um 7:00 Uhr in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, mit 75 Startplätzen. 50 Plätze gehen an die besten nationalen Meister der Team-WM 2026, 25 an die besten Leistungen der At-Large-Liste aus dem Zeitraum 16. August 2025 bis 15. August 2027. Nicht jeder nationale Meister ist also automatisch dabei; wie der Veranstalter die Meister reiht, ist nicht veröffentlicht.
Aus deutscher Sicht stehen Hendrik Boury (100 Runden, Platz 11) und Ayyoub „Ello“ El Osrouti (93, Platz 17) in der Liste vom 20. Oktober in den Top 25 der At-Large-Liste, Norman Mascher-Aspensjö (80) auf Platz 30. Martin Stiller gewann das deutsche Rennen der Team-WM 2026 mit 69 Runden und gehört damit zu den Meistern mit den längsten Rennen.
Big’s Backyard Ultra 2027 FAQ
When and where is Big’s Backyard Ultra 2027?
It starts on Saturday, 16 October 2027 at 07:00 in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, on Lazarus Lake’s land. It is the individual world championship, which alternates with the team championship. The organizer’s race page lists 75 places.
Do all national champions qualify for Big’s 2027?
No. The organizer gives berths to the “top 50 winners” of the national championships. 67 nations started the 2026 World Team Championship. Belgium’s race ended without a winner and Spain re-runs its stopped race later, so there will be 66 national champions and 16 of them will miss out on a champion berth. The organizer has not published how the champions are ranked; this page assumes completed yards.
How does the Big’s Backyard At-Large list work?
The other 25 places go to the top performances on the At-Large list from August 16, 2025 to August 15, 2027. The list on the organizer’s 2027 roster page draws on races worldwide, from Big’s 2025 to Legends in Belgium, Last Soul Ultra in Germany and backyards in France and Russia.
Is Phil Gore qualified for Big’s 2027?
On the October 20 roster he leads with 114 yards from his 2025 Big’s win, tied with Łukasz Wróbel’s 114 at Legends. The qualifying window runs until August 15, 2027, so the order can still change, and the organizer has not said how it breaks ties at the cutoff.
Do the 2026 World Team Championship results count for the At-Large list?
The race falls inside the qualifying window, so long national races could add new names. When the roster page was read on October 20, 2026, it did not yet show any World Team Championship result. The 25th At-Large place then stood at 84 yards. Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert’s world-record 124 yards are longer than every result on the list, and as Belgium’s race had no winner, neither has a national champion berth.
Which German runners are in line for Big’s 2027?
Hendrik Boury (100 yards, 11th) and Ayyoub “Ello” El Osrouti (93, 17th) are inside the October 20 At-Large top 25, and Norman Mascher-Aspensjö (80) is 30th. Martin Stiller won Germany’s national race at the 2026 team championship with 69 yards, a total that ranks him among the champions whose races went furthest.
What if a runner qualifies as a champion and on the At-Large list?
The organizer’s page does not say. Several national champions of 2026, including Niklas Sjoblom of Sweden and Marius Kouakou of Côte d’Ivoire, also sit inside the October 20 At-Large top 25. This page will add the rule if the organizer publishes it.
What this guide is built on
The rules, date, field size and At-Large table come from the organizer’s 2027 roster and race pages as they read on October 20, 2026. National champions come from the team championship’s live results feed. The organizer has not published how champions are ranked, so the champion projection orders them by completed yards and says so wherever it is used. This site has no affiliation with the organizer.
- Official 2027 roster and qualifying rulesTop 50 national champions, 25 At-Large places, the window and the 100-row roster table
- Official race page: individual world championship16 October 2027, 07:00 start, Bell Buckle, 75 places
- Official At-Large listThe worldwide ranking the 25 At-Large places come from
- The Road to Big’sHow Silver Tickets, national teams and the individual championship connect
- World Team Championship 2026 live resultsNational winners and yards used for the champions table
- Official 2025 resultsBig’s 2025, the source of most At-Large leaders