The Belgian ultrarunners Merijn Geerts, Ivo Steyaert and Frank Gielen set a Backyard Ultra ultramarathon world record in the early hours of Thursday by running nearly 738km in four days and 14 hours in Retie, Belgium. The Backyard Ultra takes place on a looped track of around 6.7km (4.2 miles). Participants must complete one loop every hour, running about 100 miles each day. The race continues until one runner is left standing.
The bi-annual world championship allows national teams to field 15 runners and the country with most combined completed loops wins the competition. Races began around the world on Saturday, with 63 countries competing.
Belgium, aided by Geerts, Steyaert and Gielen’s contribution of 110 laps each, won with 1,147 loops, beating Australia and United States who completed 971 and 969 loops respectively.
The Belgian trio broke the record of 108 laps set by the American Harvey Lewis last year and linked their arms as they completed the 110th loop to end the race together. “I didn’t think it was possible to break that world record,” Steyaert told Sporza. “We decided in the last round to stop together. We are three friends and we thought it would be nicer to share the record with the three of us.”
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When asked what was next, Gielen said: “I think I’m not going to move for two weeks.”