British men’s backyard record in 2024
Completed 87 yards at Suffolk and earned the assist behind Łukasz Wróbel’s 88-yard win.
Athlete profile · Sources reviewed Oct 23, 2026
Matthew Blackburn
Former British men’s backyard record holder and 48-hour specialist
Matthew Blackburn set a British men’s backyard record of 87 yards in 2024 and ran 89 at the 2026 World Team Championship. His 48-hour best is 368.330 km.
United KingdomNew Mills, EnglandM40–44
World Team Championship · 89 yardsBackyard Ultra World Team Championship 2026 · Assist
89 yards completed before stopping
Completed 89 yards, then started yard 90 but did not finish it. The assist in United Kingdom’s national race: the last runner to stop before the winner. United Kingdom’s national race is over: the team finished on 939 yards, 5th in the standings at this point.
Final results after yard 124 (16:07 UTC, 22 October), matching the organizer's official leaderboard. Organizer results ↗ Championship guide →
The record so far
Matthew Blackburn is a British backyard and fixed-time ultrarunner from New Mills. His results include deep national-team backyard performances, 24- and 48-hour races, and multiple finishes at Spartathlon.
At the 2024 Suffolk Backyard Ultra, Blackburn completed 87 yards for 583.422 kilometers and assisted Łukasz Wróbel’s 88-yard victory. He went two yards further at the 2026 World Team Championship, completing 89 yards as the assist to Dave Phillips’s 90-yard win for the United Kingdom.
Blackburn was also the 80-yard assist to John Stocker’s former world-best 81 yards at Suffolk in 2021. In fixed-time competition, he won 48-hour races in 2022 and 2023 and improved his best to 368.330 kilometers at the 2025 GOMU World Championship.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Backyard Ultra World Team Championship — United KingdomBackyard ultraDave Phillips won the UK race with 90 yards. | 89 yards | Assist | View ↗ | |
| GOMU 48-Hour World Championship48-hour road | 357.003 km | 10th man · 14th overall | View ↗ | |
| Sparta City Ultra24-hour road | 219.526 km | 2nd overall | View ↗ | |
| Big Dog’s Backyard UltraBackyard ultra | 63 yards · 422.478 km | 31st man · 36th overall | View ↗ | |
| GOMU 48-Hour World Championship48-hour road | 368.330 km | 5th man · 8th overall | View ↗ | |
| Spartathlon246 km road | 31:00:10 | 35th man · 43rd overall | View ↗ | |
| Suffolk Backyard UltraBackyard ultra | 87 yards · 583.422 km | Assist · Then British men’s record | View ↗ | |
| Big Dog’s Backyard UltraBackyard ultra | 56 yards · 375.536 km | 33rd man · 35th overall | View ↗ | |
| UMF Winter Edition48-hour road | 357.923 km | 1st overall | View ↗ | |
| Backyard Ultra World Team Championships — United KingdomBackyard ultra | 47 yards · 315.182 km | 1st at the UK venue | View ↗ | |
| UMF Winter Edition48-hour road | 351.650 km | 1st overall | View ↗ | |
| Suffolk Backyard UltraBackyard ultra | 80 yards · 536.480 km | Assist · 2nd overall | View ↗ |
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