Sixty runners lined up at the Brokanagan Backyard Ultra at Soverign Lake early in the morning on July 20, and had no idea what was in store for them. 

The 'backyard style' race that people had trained for has no finish line no end point, and only one winner.

The Brokanagan event is a 'backyard ultra' style of race which means that runners must complete one 6.7 km lap every hour, on the hour. If a participant cannot make it back in time to start the next lap when the hour is up, they are eliminated and the race carries on without them.

If a runner completes the 6.7km loop in less than an hour, they can use the time however they please. Nutrition, hydration and bathroom breaks are often a priority with regular shoe, sock and clothing changes and strategic rests becoming more common as the race progresses.

At the time of publication there are 12 people remaining out of the 60 runners that started in the morning. 

Dawna Jodin, race director with the said that she is amazed with the tenacity that some athletes have demonstrated. 

Jodin recounted the excitement felt when two people who had expected to finish only one lap far exceeded their expectations. One woman, who had never run more than 21 km at a time, accumulated more than 60km at the Brokanagan event, which is more than nine laps of the undulating course. Another athlete made the time cut off by only one second and was able to start the 12th loop. 

Each hour the runners trot along a set loop which includes a mix of single track, double track and grassy cross country ski trails lined with alpine flowers. 

The shoe company Altra is the main footwear sponsor of the event and has the fitting motto; "Stay out there." In an effort to see what keeps people out on the trails, Altra sent brand rep Riley Johnson up to Soverign Lake to find out first hand. 

"At most ultras people experience the pull of the finish line. At backyard ultras, people experience a pull to start," said Johnson after running more than 70 km at the event. 

While out on the course Johnson cheered as people set new personal bests and exceeded their own wildest expectations.

"There is something special about shedding some tears on the course with other people," he said. 

Johnson attributes many of the successes of the day to the dedicated crew of volunteers who were up before sunrise to set up the event and have stayed on course all day to keep athletes safe and motivated. 

More than 20 volunteers gave up their weekend to douse athletes in ice water and fill bottles so that runners at the Brokanagan could have breakthrough performances, set new personal bests and make memories out on the trails. 

The race is still ongoing and is expected to continue for more than 24 hours. 

The after each lap. 

To learn more and to register for other Bush Babes and Bros trail running events, visit 

The next event hosted by the Bush Babes is Freaky Creeky, a trail race with distances of 13, 27, 50 or 86 km.