Big's Backyard Ultra world team championship is underway

The Big's Backyard Ultra World Team Championship is running. It started at 7:00 CDT, and Keith Dunn posted the links to follow along, including live results for the US team.

Keith

@keithdunn

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At this race, 24 yards isn’t even table stakes.

Dunn's own advice is to not bother yet. "You may follow along," he wrote, before adding that "you can wait until tomorrow to start following if you'd like." The reason is the math of this particular race. A yard is one hourly loop, and at most backyard ultras a runner who gets deep into the second day has done something notable. Here, Dunn says, 24 yards is not even table stakes.

Why nothing is decided today

That line is the whole story of the event. Twenty four yards means a full day of running, one loop started on the hour, every hour. At Big's, by Dunn's account, that is not where the race begins to sort itself out. The field is a team championship, so the names worth watching are still on the course long after a normal backyard race has produced a winner.

Which means the first day of coverage is mostly a roll call. Everyone is still in it, the splits look identical because the format makes them identical, and the only number that moves is the yard count. The interesting part arrives when the count climbs high enough that runners start failing to make the hour.

If you want to track the Americans, Dunn's post is the place to start. He is posting the US team's live results, and he has made clear he expects to be doing it for a while.

What it actually means is simple. This is not a race you check once and get an answer from. Nothing is settled for days, and Dunn is telling you so up front.