Hourly-loop planning
Convert yards into distance, compare loop pace with between-yard time, and build a printable schedule from the first bell to your target.
Standard backyard yards start every hour; custom mode supports local variations.
Printable yard plan
24 yards · 6.7056 km per yard
100.00 miles
12:00/mi
Per yard, after the corral buffer
At the planned loop time
One hour after the target yard starts
Exactly 100 miles by standard yard math
| Yard | Start | Planned finish | Back in corral by | Base time | Cumulative km | Cumulative miles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 08:00 | 08:50 | 08:57 | 7.0 min | 6.71 | 4.17 |
| 6 | 13:00 | 13:50 | 13:57 | 7.0 min | 40.23 | 25.00 |
| 12 | 19:00 | 19:50 | 19:57 | 7.0 min | 80.47 | 50.00 |
| 18 | Day 2 · 01:00 | Day 2 · 01:50 | Day 2 · 01:57 | 7.0 min | 120.70 | 75.00 |
| 24 | Day 2 · 07:00 | Day 2 · 07:50 | Day 2 · 07:57 | 7.0 min | 160.93 | 100.00 |
| Milestone | Yards | Distance | Completed at | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 km | 15 | 100.58 km / 62.50 mi | 22:50 | First yard at or beyond this distance |
| 100 miles | 24 | 160.93 km / 100.00 mi | Day 2 · 07:50 | First yard at or beyond this distance |
| 150 miles | 36 | 241.40 km / 150.00 mi | Day 2 · 19:50 | First yard at or beyond this distance |
| 200 miles | 48 | 321.87 km / 200.00 mi | Day 3 · 07:50 | First yard at or beyond this distance |
| Women's record | 95 | 637.03 km / 395.83 mi | Day 5 · 06:50 | Sarah Perry, Big's Backyard Ultra, October 2025 |
| Previous overall record | 119 | 797.97 km / 495.83 mi | Day 6 · 06:50 | Phil Gore, Dead Cow Gully, June 2025 |
| Overall world record | 124 | 831.49 km / 516.67 mi | Day 6 · 11:50 | Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert, Retie, October 22, 2026 |
Distances use 1 mile = 1.609344 km and are rounded to two decimals; 24 standard yards are exactly 100 miles. Loop times follow your planned time plus any slowdown, so darkness, weather, foot care and fatigue can still change the real numbers.
A standard backyard ultra requires one yard every hour. The calculator keeps the fixed hourly start separate from your planned loop time, so the remaining minutes are visible rather than hidden inside an average pace. For the format itself, read the backyard ultra guide.
The yard length, the 3, 2 and 1-minute warnings and the rule that you must be in the corral at the bell come from the official backyard ultra rules. The corral buffer is an optional planning margin, not a rule requiring arrival three minutes early. It subtracts your chosen margin from the time at base, and the slowdown field shows the yard at which a drifting loop time stops leaving that margin.
Use custom mode only when the event publishes a non-standard loop. Planning values should always be checked against the current race rules; the organizer determines the actual distance, start procedure and completion standard.
For how the record fell, see the 124-yard record report.
The field adds the same number of seconds to every loop. With a 50-minute first yard and 30 seconds of slowdown, yard 11 takes 55 minutes, which leaves 2 usable minutes after a 3-minute corral buffer. Yard 15 takes 57 minutes and is the last loop that keeps the full buffer, with no usable minutes left.
For scale, De Pauw et al. (2024) reported group average speeds falling from 9.0 to 7.5 km/h across a backyard race. That does not predict your own slowdown, so compare a few values.
The table is arithmetic, not a prediction. Repeated loop times may drift with darkness, weather, congestion, foot care and fatigue. Read the separate backyard strategy guide before turning a calculated rest window into a race plan.
A standard yard is 4 miles 880 feet: exactly 6.7056 kilometers, or 4.1667 miles rounded. Twenty-four standard yards are exactly 100 miles. Some local events use a different loop, so confirm the organizer's rules before planning.
A 50-minute standard yard is about 7:27 per kilometer or 12:00 per mile. That leaves ten minutes before the next bell, but warnings sound at 3, 2 and 1 minute and you must be in the corral at the bell, so plan on about 7 usable minutes at your base if you head in at the 3-minute warning.
It buys more clock time before the next start, but at a higher effort. In a 2024 field study of backyard runners (De Pauw et al.), average speed fell from 9.0 to 7.5 km/h over the race, which is a loop time drifting from about 45 to 54 minutes. Those group averages do not predict an individual’s slowdown or prove that a fast start caused it. The slowdown field is a user-selected arithmetic scenario.
124 yards (831.49 km), shared by Merijn Geerts and Ivo Steyaert, who ran them in Retie on October 22, 2026. That beat Phil Gore’s 119 from 2025. Sarah Perry holds the women’s record with 95.
Yard one begins at the event start. Yard 24 therefore begins 23 hours later. Completing that standard yard reaches 100 miles before the next hourly bell.