Belgian Pair Set New Backyard Ultra World Record With 124 Yards
Photo : Screencapture official broadcast.
Ivo Steyaert and Merijn Geerts completed 124 yards and approximately 832 kilometres in Belgium, while Anders Johnsen and Nora Kojen Stubbe set new Norwegian records.
Ivo Steyaert and Merijn Geerts have set a new backyard ultra world record after completing 124 yards at the 2026 Backyard Ultra World Team Championships.
Neither runner started yard 125, bringing their extraordinary effort to an end after five days and four hours. With every backyard loop measuring 6.706 kilometres, the Belgian pair covered approximately 831.5 kilometres each.
The result surpasses the previous official record of 119 yards, set by Australia’s Phil Gore at Dead Cow Gully in 2025.
Two runners finish together
Backyard ultra normally continues until only one runner remains. To record a victory, the final runner must complete one more yard than everyone else.
That did not happen in Belgium. Steyaert and Geerts stopped together after completing yard 124, meaning the event ended without an individual winner or assist. Instead, the two runners share the new world record.
Their performance also helped Belgium reach a total of 1,058 yards in the team competition. The United States finished first with 1,120 yards, followed by Australia with 1,069 and Belgium in third.
Never has an empty Belgian forest drawn so much attention.
New Norwegian records
Norway’s competition ended with Anders Johnsen completing 73 yards, equivalent to approximately 489.5 kilometres. Johnsen became Norway’s last remaining runner and established a new men’s national record.
Jon Asphjell completed 72 yards, while Nora Kojen Stubbe reached 70 yards and 469.4 kilometres, setting a new Norwegian women’s record.
Norway accumulated 688 yards, finishing 11th among 67 nations and fifth in its championship class. The result improves the country’s previous team best of 485 yards from 2024 by 203 yards.
Norway’s leading results
Anders Johnsen — 73 yards / 489.5 km
Jon Asphjell — 72 yards / 482.8 km
Nora Kojen Stubbe — 70 yards / 469.4 km
Jan-Erik Steen — 67 yards / 449.3 km
Eivind Svellingen — 58 yards / 389.0 km
Belgium leaves the championship with a shared world record, while Norway returns home with two individual national records and its strongest team performance to date.
