Thetford Back Yard Ultra

Thetford Back Yard Ultra Festival

Thetford Back Yard Ultra Festival is a competitive Backyard Ultra held at High Lodge in Thetford Forest, Suffolk. The format uses repeated hourly loops of 4.167 miles (4 miles 880 feet / 6.7056 km); each loop must be completed within the hour and the last person to complete a loop is the winner.

The event offers a full open-ended Backyard Ultra plus new timed options for 6 hour and 12 hour entries at reduced cost. Timed entrants share the same setup but will be recorded as DNF when their time limit ends; the 6 hour and 12 hour races have no winner prizes. The 6 hour entry accepts participants from 12 years old when a parent or guardian is onsite and an emergency contact is provided.

Course and support are set at a single start and finish area. There is one aid station with hot and cold water and basic snacks until evening, and a supervised cooking area for crews; stoves are not permitted in camping areas. The route is wide and mostly flat through forest with firm, well drained surfaces, mostly gravel and grass and one small hill. The site has portable toilets, limited charging for runners, no mains power, and patchy mobile signal.

Runners and crews may camp free on two organized fields with restricted space. Parking must be booked and a flat fee applies; the site entrance is closed to entry overnight from 9pm to 8am. Crews should be kept to a minimum early on, and pets and open cooking in camping areas are not allowed. Media may record the event and photos may be used for future promotion. Volunteers provide event support. Key race rules include corral start procedures, no personal aid during loops, requirement to complete each loop within an hour, headtorches at night, and automatic DNF for timed entries when their limit expires. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.