Far removed from the spotlight of the Ligue des Nations clash in Milan, the French Backyard team competed in the World Championships in Bacqueville-en-Caux, Normandy, on October 17. Among the athletes representing France was Thierry Grajdura, a 58-year-old IT engineer from Neuville-sur-Saône in the Rhône department. Grajdura, who works for a local government body, stands out as one of the nation’s top specialists in the Backyard format at his age. [1]
Grajdura holds a personal best of 68 laps, equating to 455 kilometers run continuously across three full nights. He describes the experience as simultaneously awe-inspiring and personally proud, noting that he never competed at that level during his previous fifteen years of ultra-running. Before discovering Backyard in 2020 during the pandemic, Grajdura had completed prestigious races such as the UTMB (167 km in 39 hours, 12 minutes) and the Diagonale des Fous (167 km in 45 hours, 47 minutes). [1]
The Backyard format, invented by American Lazarus Lake, known as 'Laz', requires runners to complete a 6.7 km loop in under one hour for as many laps as possible. The event continues until only one runner remains. Grajdura appreciates the meditative nature of the sport, which relies heavily on experience rather than elite physical peak, despite the hallucinations that can accompany three-to-four-day sleep deprivation. Unlike the Barkley, there is no federal oversight; the individual World Championships are held in Laz's garden in Tennessee. [1]
The French team recently placed sixth out of 67 nations in the team World Championships. Twenty Minutes is highlighting Grajdura, along with previous features like ultra-runner Anthony Fauvi, within the '20 Minutes Arena' series. The initiative aims to showcase amateur athletes who compete at a level capable of challenging professionals. [1]
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