115-yard Belgian record
Completed 771.190 km at Legends Backyard Ultra and earned the assist behind Wróbel’s 116-yard win. It stood as the Belgian record until Geerts and Steyaert ran 124 yards in October 2026.
Athlete profile · Sources reviewed Oct 23, 2026
Jan Vandekerckhove
Former Belgian backyard record holder and 24-hour runner
Jan Vandekerckhove is a Belgian ultrarunner whose 115-yard assist at Legends Backyard Ultra 2025 established the Belgian national best.
BelgiumKessel-Lo, LeuvenMACWM40
The record so far
Jan Vandekerckhove is a Belgian ultrarunner from the Leuven area. At Legends Backyard Ultra 2025 he completed 115 yards for 771.190 km, setting the Belgian national best at the time while assisting Łukasz Wróbel’s then-world-record victory. Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert raised the Belgian record to 124 yards, also a world record, at the 2026 World Team Championship.
His result range is wider than the backyard format. Vandekerckhove recorded 236.182 km at the 2024 Sittard 24-hour race and placed third at the 100-mile Bello Gallico trail in 17:32:00 later that year.
He returned to Legends in 2026 and completed 88 yards. DUV records 590.128 km for those completed yards, separating his individual performance from the event’s full duration.
Defining performances
Performance history
Selected results, not a complete race history. Rankings and record descriptions reflect the cited sources at their review dates. Distances may use different rounding conventions.
| Date | Event | Performance | Result | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legends Backyard UltraBackyard ultra | 88 yards · 590.128 km | 7th overall | View ↗ | |
| Legends Backyard UltraBackyard ultra | 115 yards · 771.190 km | Assist · Belgian record | View ↗ | |
| The Bello Gallico Trail100-mile trail | 17:32:00 | 3rd overall | View ↗ | |
| Backyard Ultra World Team Championships — BelgiumBackyard ultra | 86 yards · 576.716 km | 6th at the Belgian venue | View ↗ | |
| Antwerp Backyard UltraBackyard ultra | 45 yards · 301.770 km | Joint 2nd | View ↗ | |
| Legends Backyard UltraBackyard ultra | 37 yards · 248.122 km | 5th overall | View ↗ | |
| 24 Hours Sittard24-hour race | 236.182 km | 3rd overall | View ↗ | |
| Endurance Day Hamme 100 km100 km | 7:25:16 | Winner | View ↗ | |
| 100 km de la Somme100 km | 7:15:59 | Winner | View ↗ |
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