Euskal Backyard Ultra 2026

Race registration for the Euskal Backyard Ultra opens the door to a format that breaks with everything we know about traditional trail running: there's no fixed distance to cover, no time to beat — just a pure test of mental endurance where the only person left standing is whoever can outlast everyone else, lap after lap. Organized by Kukulu Mendi Kluba with the backing of Loiu Town Council, this was the first Backyard Ultra event ever organized in all of the Basque Country when it debuted in June 2025, and it's part of the Backyard Ultra World Calendar, counting toward the World Team Championship to be held in October 2026.The Backyard Ultra concept is as simple as it is relentless: a 6.706 km loop that every runner must complete within a maximum of 60 minutes. Every hour, on the hour, a new start is given — only those who finished the previous lap within time may take it. The cycle repeats indefinitely, lap after lap, hour after hour, day and night, until a single person manages to complete one more lap than everyone else: that person, and only that person, wins. Speed within each lap doesn't matter — what matters is the ability to keep showing up to the starting corral, hour after hour, when body and mind are begging to stop. The current course record, set in 2025, is held by José Manuel Ruiz Verdugo with 41 laps (over 275 km) in the men's category, and Irati Ortiz de Anda Martín with 22 laps in the women's category.The 2026 edition, with no lap limit, starts Friday, July 3rd at 9:00 pm — at night, adding an extra layer of difficulty right from the first minute, requiring a headlamp and red rear light from lap one. The circular, one-direction course runs through the municipality of Loiu — a small town in the Txorierri district, less than 10 km from Bilbao, known for housing the Biscayan capital's airport but, in truth, deeply mountainous — combining mountain trails and paths (70%) with asphalt stretches (30%), with 180 meters of elevation gain per lap and views of some of Bizkaia's main mountains.The entire logistical heart of the race beats at the Life Base, set up next to the start and finish, at the Zabaloetxe Municipal Frontón: there, each individual participant has their own chair, each team gets a table with chairs, and aid intensifies as the race progresses — liquid only on lap 2, mixed from lap 3, full from lap 5, coffee and broth from lap 6, and hot food (paella, pasta, or rice) from lap 7 onward. The organization also offers shower and restroom service, reserved parking near the start, and, in a gesture that captures the race's close-knit spirit, local Loiu shops and bars chip in every year to raffle off menus and products among participants from the later laps onward.Registration for 2026 costs €50, with a priority window from January 12th to 16th reserved for those who ran the first edition, offering a 20% discount as recognition of their loyalty. The field is capped at 200 bibs, and the window closes on June 22nd, 2026. All in all, it's an experience that goes far beyond running: a test of patience, community, and mental endurance, where winning depends not on being the fastest, but simply on being the last one standing.