BPN Go One More Ultra 2026

 The 2026 edition of the Go One More Ultra once again delivered. The dust has settled and The Bare Ranch is beginning to recover. The winner, Mark Dowdle, has returned to ‘normal’ life, if you can call being an ultrarunner’s life ‘normal’ in any sense of the word. Dowdle’s normal included him winning another backyard ultra just three weeks after BPN’s Go One More.

We learnt several things from this year’s race, not just from the last two men who ran over 300 miles, but about willingness, the need not to rush and that age is just a number. It yet again enforced the desire for some competitors to go to ‘the dark place’ to succeed, and that when the mind is willing, more often than not, the body will follow.

What is a Backyard Ultra?

The backyard ultra is a fairly new phenomenon in the world of ultrarunning. Inventor and ultrarunning royalty, Gary ‘Lazaruis Lake’ Cantrell is best known for his infamous Barkley Marathons; however, it’s the backyard ultra format which has captivated fans and followers in recent years.

It’s a simple concept. Competitors must complete a 4.1 mile or 6.7km loop (or yard) in less than an hour. Simple, right? However, they must then repeat the same loop of 4.1 miles or 6.7km on the hour, every hour. There is no finish line; competitors must just continue until all other competitors drop out of the race or fail to make the one-hour time cap for a single yard. Every hour, on the hour, until there is one competitor left. The distance is set so that runners will complete 100 miles in 24 hours.

The world record was set by Phil Gore at the 2025 ‘Dead Cow Gully’, where the Australian completed 119 laps, totalling nearly 800kms.

BPN’s Go One More 2026 – The Five Standouts

Every single person who started the BPN Go One More Ultra deserves respect. Many people credit last year’s joint winners, Kim Gottwald and Kendall Picado Fallas, for bringing the Go One More ultra into the mainstream. After lap 57, the weather caused a stop to things, deeming it unsafe for the athletes to continue. In 2026, they would both return to Texas to go again and pick up where they left off. BPN’s documentary on the race, aptly named ‘Surrender’, tells the story of two young athletes leaving it all on the trail.

The 2026 edition was bigger than 2025, with more competitors taking part and more ‘well-known names’ in the ultra-running space on the books. From running influencers to full-time athletes and those taking on their first backyard ultra, the start line of this year’s race received more traction than last year.

Five people stood out amongst the competitors, each with a different story, each as inspiring as the next. The stories that their races told are inspiring, not just in a competitive sense, but in the life lessons each athlete taught through their race.

Mike Egan – Find a Way

US Marine veteran, Mike Egan, grabbed headlines and drew widespread attention throughout the Go One More Ultra. Covering 109.2 miles in 20:28:41, Egan showed that there are no excuses for not giving it your all.

For context, Egan lost both his legs in an IED blast during his time in the military. He’s the record holder of the most miles travelled via wheelchair in 24 hours (152.37 miles), but his output during the Go One More Ultra was inspiring beyond this.

Once the weather came in, it rained heavily and affected all athletes. The trail quickly became a pool, the mud stuck to competitors’ shoes, making it harder to run, and it became dangerous, slippery and miserable. It would be Egan who was hit the hardest. As the trail flooded and the mud clung to anything it touched, it became impossible for Egan to move his wheelchair in the conventional fashion. 

The wheels became clogged with mud, forcing him to adapt. Egan would begin his final lap in his wheelchair; however, once it became clear he wouldn’t be able to continue to move the wheels, he got out and began to drag it. When time became an issue, Egan would continue to move forward using just his arms to drag himself further and although he would miss the cut-off time and ultimately register a ‘DNF’.

Did it matter? To him, maybe. To everyone who witnessed this extraordinary fete of resilience, it didn’t matter that he DNF’d. He’d inspired many and made it clear that, despite the cards you’re dealt, you can always move forward.

Harvey Lewis – Age is Just a Number

A previous winner of ‘Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra’, a Last Man Standing race created by Lazarus Lake, Harvey Lewis is no stranger to the backyard format. At 49 years old, Lewis lined up on the first day of the BPN Go One More Ultra as one of the favourites. A well-recognisable face in the game, having also won the Badwater 135, one of the toughest ultra marathons in the world, Lewis captured the hearts of many with his jovial persona.

For those who kept up with his Instagram in the early going of the race, Lewis was active on social media, having chats with fellow runners and keeping things light, something he largely kept up throughout the entire race. The vegan teacher used his time in the race to get to know other competitors and made it clear that they were all in the ‘race’ together.

Lewis flipped the script on the understanding that, typically, ultra running is a young person’s game, celebrating his 50^th birthday on the trail in Texas. Completing 58 yard, Lewis ran a total of 243.6 miles, and although he was unable to complete lap 59, he finished in typical jovial fashion alongside the much younger Kim Gottwald.

Lewis showed that age is just a number. He stuck with the three ‘young guns’ when the going got tough and stayed positive throughout.

Kim Gottwald – Pressure Doesn’t Always Make Diamonds

The 2025 edition of BPNs Go One More Ultra put Kim Gottwald on the map. After coming in joint first, Gottwald became a BPN athlete, his brand, Rappid, took off, and he’d go on to win ‘Last Soul Ultra’, a backyard put on by Gottwald himself.

2026 was the year that Gottwald talked a big game, stating he wanted to run 100 loops. It began well, and despite having a target on his back, Gottwald was able to be consistent, stay disciplined and keep calm. There was a lot of pressure on Gottwald from the start, with BPN clearly backing him to go far in the race, releasing a series following him and his prep ahead of the Texas race, and seemingly pipping him for greatness.

Much of Gottwald’s success comes down to his team and his mental state during a race. For Team Rappid, it’s about going to ‘the dark place’ and becoming comfortable within it. They share their understanding of ultrarunning, relying on the soul of the individual and that every race takes a part of one’s soul. Gottwald’s Rappid teammate, Aleks Lingauer, in particular, buys into the belief that a competitor must embrace the suffering in order to grow.

It was clear early on, however, that Gottwald was having issues. The young German’s knee was covered in KT-Tape to ease the pressure on an injury. Following on from lap 40, where he ran a 46:31, Gottwald’s time per lap increased significantly, leading to shorter breaks and less time to recover. Even his famous Germany football shirt couldn’t will him on any further this year, and Gottwald, alongside Lewis, DNF'd on lap 58. He bettered last year’s race by two laps, but fell short of his Last Soul Ultra record of 67 laps.

On a podcast following the race, he revealed a piece of him died in Texas, but the goal of ticking off 100 yards is still on the horizon, as is 2027’s BPN Go One More ultra.

Kendall Picado Fallas – Until the Bitter End

Joint winner of last year’s BPN Backyard ultra alongside Gottwald, Kendall Picado Fallas returned this year with a point to prove. He wasn’t the ‘big’ star that Gottwald became after 2025’s race. To say that he proved his point would be an understatement. 

The Costa Rican yet again went under the radar in the 2026 edition of the race, not grabbing headlines, but just kept going. Fans dreamed of another one-on-one showdown with Gottwald, a repeat of the epic 2025 race, but it wasn’t to be. As Gottwald dropped, Fallas stayed consistent, stayed strong.

Lap by lap, records fell. The ultimate winner was looking strong, as did Fallas... until lap 71. The young Costa Rican dogged out lap 71 in 54:45, a fairly standard time for Fallas, who averaged between 51:46 and 55:54 in the previous 10 yards. Lap 72 is where it came crashing down for Fallas.

Lap 72 saw Fallas take 59:47 to complete the yard, leaving just 13 seconds of recovery.

Lap 73 was too much for the young, hungry Kendall. If anyone needs inspiration, watch the final 500 meters of Fallas’ final loop. Dowdle, the other remaining competitor, was already in, safe, ready to go again. The live feed cut to Fallas, walking, seemingly out of it. Then something amazing occurred. Fallas began to run, not shuffle as many would at this distance... and not just run but do so at speed in a last-ditch attempt to make the time cut. For context, he had completed just shy of 489kms. Fallas was sprinting until the bitter end.

Ultimately, Fallas would miss the cut-off time… by three seconds. To fans, it didn’t matter. Kendall gave it his all, left it all out there and dogged it out until the last second. An Instagram post he put up following the race encapsulated everything he stands for, the caption reads, “suffering is optional”, with the image echoing the words, “pain is inevitable”. 

Kendall Picado Fallas will be back next year, and as another one of his Instagram posts states, “it’s me vs me, and one of us must die”.

Mark Dowdle – No Rush, Take your Time

The BPN Go One More Ultra winner, Mark Dowdle. No fancy gear, just wired headphones and the strongest will. The only man who didn’t DNF.

Dowdle was, more often than not, at the back of the pack, beginning every yard with a long walk. Not rushing, taking his time, arguably a life lesson many can follow. Casual fans believed he had no chance of going deep; he was at the back after all. He proved them wrong.

The American wasn’t the fastest, with his quickest lap coming in at 48:34, meaning, on average, he got less rest than everyone else; however, he just kept going. With a water bottle and his wired headphones, Dowdle went further than anyone else. It appeared that, although he was there to win, it was more important for Mark to will himself and everyone around him, especially Kendall in the final laps, to achieve the best they possibly could. This video proves just that. At Lap 72, Dowdle was looking fresh, energised and ready for another loop.

In a breakdown video of his victory, he spoke of having internal conversations with

himself in order to grow. Like Gottwald and his team, Dowdle discussed going to ‘that place’ to see how he responds to it.

There’s little doubt that Dowdle leaned heavily on his faith. When discussing his victory, he stated, “I didn’t need to win to feel like I was important, because my faith gives me that. My faith gives me that grounding and that purpose, and to know that I’m good. If God is all that I have, then I have more than I’ll ever need in my entire life”.

Dowdle would complete his 73^rd yard in a time of 51:48, a yard that would prove to be his last… for now.

306.6 miles or 489.1km in 64:49:05. A victory that sets him up for huge things in the future, and for Dowdle himself, he remained humble, didn’t rush, took his time and did it his way.