More than 145 miles and 35 hours later, the winner of the Old Tom Backyard Ultra has been named.
Aaron Webb of Winnipeg took the crown after running an astounding 35 laps—each 4.167 miles long—on a family farm just northeast of Blumenort.
The challenge was to complete one loop every hour until only one runner remains.
Steffan Reimer, one of the organizers, says the event surpassed his expectations.
"We had 75 people start, and we had hundreds of people on-site helping out the runners and spectating," he says.
Of those that started, 40 ran for 12 hours—covering 50 miles.
"It was absolutely insane," Reimer says. "We had six people make 100 miles in 24 hours, which is a testament to the mentality of Manitobans. We're a different level of tough."
"Manitoba tough:" Natalie and Brent blaze past 100 miles
Among the final athletes were Natalie Hamm from Winnipeg and Brent Manke from Steinbach, who both crossed the 100-mile threshold.
Hamm, who was the top female finisher and one of the top five overall, didn’t originally plan to compete—she joined off the waitlist just six weeks prior.
"I feel very satisfied. I didn't have a lot of specific goals, just a couple of milestones I wanted to achieve," she says. "I wasn't trained. I ran the Manitoba Marathon in June, so I had just enough time to mentally prepare and regroup."
Her strategy was to take it one lap at a time.
"I always knew I that I had enough to do one more until I didn't," she says, in the end completing 25 laps, or 104.75 miles.
As for Manke, the southeast’s top runner, his goal was straight forward: 100 miles. He nailed it, setting a new personal record.
Physically, he says it was important to keep fueled with food and liquids. Mentally, it was critical to run with a purpose.
"In my case, there were some family members and people that I know who have been suffering through a lot of things. So to keep them in mind was really important for me to be able to focus my efforts on something that's bigger than me," he says.
Manke says the race format is truly a group effort, and about encouraging one another along the way.
"As soon as there's only one person left, the race is over. So everyone is motivating everyone else to go further," he says. "When there's more people, that actually makes everyone able to do better, feel better, and perform better."
As a Steinbach resident, he says it's incredible to have a race like this so close to home.
"My family gets to be really involved...and I feel like as someone who lives in southeast Manitoba, we get to host this in our metaphorical backyard. So it's a lot of fun to show the running community where we live," Manke says.
What’s next? Old Tom goes national
Reimer says, next year, his farm will be one of six Backyard Ultras in Canada from which a winner will get a spot on Team Canada for the World Championships.
"There will be people from all over Canada here next year, trying to compete," he says.
The level of growth the event has seen in the last two years leaves him speechless.
"It's nuts. It's humbling," he says. "It's so humbling that my dad and I, on our family farm, can put a product together that people want."
Written with files from Andrea Turner