Dutch Backyard Ultra

Results: 2026

231 runners started.

Public-race placings follow the organizer’s RaceResult list, where 231 of 280 entrants started, 27 of them women. Team-race yards follow the World Team Championship results feed, which gives the Dutch team 617 yards. RaceResult lists one more yard for three team runners who stopped during a yard (Oevermans 63, Mark Hessels 42, Steven Vegter 36), so its counts for runners who stopped mid-yard may include that unfinished yard. Big’s national record list had not been updated with any 2026 team-championship result when checked.

Source: Official 2026 results for both races (RaceResult, Trail Events). Checked October 22, 2026.

Next edition: October 16, 2027. Trail Events lists the next Zeewolde edition for Saturday, October 16, 2027 at 2:00 PM, the same moment Big’s individual world championship starts in Tennessee. On October 22, 2026 its ticket page showed €225 and “Sold out”, though the page still carried 2025 ticket wording. The spring edition at Landgoed Ginkelduin near Leersum comes first, on Friday, March 12, 2027 at 8:00 PM; it was also sold out at €225.

Event Overview

Autumn edition of the Dutch Backyard Ultra at Scoutinglandgoed Zeewolde: a 6.706 km forest loop every hour, day and night, which hosted the Netherlands’ team championship race in 2026.

Course & Terrain

Backyard ultra: a 6.706 km (4.167-mile) yard every hour on one marked forest loop on the Scouting Nederland grounds at Zeewolde, used by day and by night.

Key course features to know before comparing this race:

• One 6.706 km loop on the Scouting Nederland grounds at Zeewolde, the same by day and night
• Forest paths, marked with fluorescent arrows and ribbons
• About 100 ft (30 m) of climb per loop (Big’s race page)
• Timing points at 2.7, 4.7 and 6.2 km in 2026

Big’s lists forest paths as the surface, and the route does not change at night, so runners repeat the same loop in the dark. The organizer’s mandatory kit includes a headlamp with spare batteries and a spare headlamp.

Yardlore’s race-day records give 7°C to 14°C for the October 2025 Zeewolde race. Its records for the three March races at Leersum range from about 0°C to 20°C. Mandatory kit includes a rain jacket and an emergency blanket.

Format & Support (as run)

Why This Race Matters

The Dutch Backyard Ultra is a last-one-standing backyard ultra run by Trail Events (Trailrunning Europe), with race director Chris van Beem. The first edition was held at Landgoed Ginkelduin near Leersum in March 2024, with room for 150 runners, and Mark Hessels won it with 32 yards. Since 2025 there have been two editions a year: a spring race at Leersum that starts on a Friday evening, and an autumn race at Scoutinglandgoed Zeewolde that starts on the same Saturday as the world championship at Big’s Backyard Ultra in Tennessee. Fields have grown from 121 runners in 2024 to 231 at Zeewolde in October 2026. In 2026 Zeewolde also hosted the Netherlands’ 15-runner team in the Backyard Ultra World Team Championship, where the last Dutch runner is national champion. Luciano Pappalettera won it with 63 yards, more than the 60-yard Dutch record on Big’s list. In 2024 the Dutch team had raced at Landgoed Ginkelduin, where Kanter Eefting won with 54, a Dutch record at the time. The organizer bills every Dutch Backyard Ultra as a Silver Ticket race for the national team. The series best is Gerben Oevermans’s 50 yards in March 2026, and the women’s best is Irene Kinnegim’s 33 from October 2025.

Historical benchmark notes in the directory record (verify current records with the linked official sources):

• Dutch Backyard Ultra record: 50 yards (335.3 km), Gerben Oevermans (Netherlands), Leersum, March 2026. Luciano Pappalettera was the assist with 49.
• Zeewolde public-race best: 37 yards (248.1 km), Casper De Vries, October 2026, one more than Onno Overes’s 36 in October 2025.
• Most yards at Scoutinglandgoed Zeewolde: 63 (422.5 km), Luciano Pappalettera, in the Netherlands’ World Team Championship race, October 17–20, 2026.
• Women’s best: 33 yards, Irene Kinnegim, Zeewolde, October 2025, when she was third overall. In 2026 Jitte Verweij led the women in the public race with 26, and Hinke Schokker reached 31 in the team race.
• Dutch national record: on October 22, 2026 Big’s national record list still showed 60 yards by Niels Duteweert, set as the assist at UPFRONT Last Man Standing on October 2, 2026. Pappalettera’s 63 at Zeewolde goes past it but had not been added. The organizer notes that Kanter Eefting’s 54 in the 2024 team race was a Dutch record at the time.
• No runner has won twice. Gerben Oevermans has a win (March 2026) and an assist (March 2024).

Preparing for a Race Like Dutch Backyard Ultra

The backyard ultra race guide covers the format as a whole. These guides go deeper:

• Backyard ultras explained: Rules, distance math, current records and how a race ends.
• Backyard ultra training plan: A 16-week framework with hourly-loop rehearsals and a printable worksheet.
• Backyard ultra race strategy: Loop pacing, the routine between loops, sleep and knowing when to stop.
• Backyard ultra nutrition: A fueling framework to test for eating and drinking between loops.

Best Fit

• Runners trying a first backyard ultra in a large, fully catered field
• Dutch runners chasing a Silver Ticket for the national team
• Runners with a first target: the medal for at least 8 loops (53.6 km)

Planning Notes

• Practice the exact hourly routine: loop, eat, foot check, bottle refill, and back to the start. The format rewards repeatability.
• Train for terrain-specific fatigue. Technical trails and mountain courses demand downhill durability, hiking efficiency, and reliable night lighting.
• The directory marks this as having comparatively simpler logistics. That editorial label is not a safety rating; verify cutoffs, terrain, support, crew access, and withdrawal procedures.

Event FAQs

Related Preparation

• Compare this race in the full 2026 calendar
• Browse the 2026 backyard ultra calendar
• Open the Backyard Ultra format guide
• Compare all race formats
• Use the timed-race pace calculator
• Build a backyard yard and rest-time schedule
• Estimate race calories and plan fueling
• Build a crew and drop-bag plan
• Build a race-specific gear checklist