Under new organisation from M3 Events, Guernsey’s own take on ‘Backyard Ultra’ attracted its highest number of starters yet with 86, but the UK-based Torode outperformed them all to become the first-ever female winner and demolish the existing women’s record.
Like every competitor lining up on the Saturday morning, she had started a 4.17-mile (6.7km) loop from Sylvans Football Club every hour until they could no longer continue the pattern, but she went above in beyond in completing 26 laps or ‘yards’ – 108.3 total miles.
After Petr Cisarik called it quits on 25 laps, with Adam Grogan and Sophie Fletcher stopping one earlier for 100 miles, she ran the final circuit solo to seal off a historic victory on Sunday morning.
Torode, who as her surname may suggest has local parents, could have gone significantly longer still had she not been forced to retire due to the lack of opposition.
‘It was really good,’ the 34-year-old said.
‘I was really hoping to go a bit further – I think I had a lot more in me, but you have to stop when the second-to-last person does.
‘It’s amazing to win it and to be the first female winner. I’m really proud of that.’
Torode has enjoyed a rapid rise in a relatively short time as an ultra-runner.
She has competed at the Brighton Backyard Ultra three times and finished 15, 26 and 31 laps of the standardised 4.17-mile distance – which equals 100 miles when continued for 24 hours.
Her past achievements made her well-equipped to challenge Cynthia Munemo’s women’s record of 22 laps from two years ago, with Graham Merfield’s outright mark of 29 not appearing much of a stretch.
Five-time consecutive winner Merfield stepped down after last year’s win but remains present in an organisational capacity.
The veteran-60 athlete highlighted Torode’s ‘amazing achievement’ but also the unity of the Donkey Drop Out.
‘The feedback we’ve had has been overwhelmingly positive, both in terms of people competing and the event, the social environment of it,’ he said.
‘Everybody is running fairly slowly and they all started together every hour.
‘They enjoyed chatting with people and running with people they would not normally run with in a half marathon or whatever – they might be running significantly different speeds.
‘Whether you’re male or female, old or young, you are running together. It really levels the playing field.’
He saw having two women, both Torode and Guernsey’s own Fletcher, in the top four as exemplifying that.
Ciaran Slattery (20 laps), Royce Bryan Parsacala (19 laps) and Becky Mitterdorfer (18 laps) filled the next three positions, with another five runners managing 16 circuits.
Overall, 17 competitors reached 100km, 23 got to 50 miles, and 52 covered at least the marathon distance.
The overall winner carried great praise for the event.
‘I just thought it was brilliant,’ she added.
‘So many lovely people, and the nice thing about doing an event like this is you all start the lap together and everybody ends up chatting the whole time.’
Torode also highlighted the route, with its views over the Reservoir wall, running past cows, and even got to see shooting stars during the long night-time spell of the event.
Congratulating her fellow competitors, she added: ‘It’s really exciting when you see people doing so much better than they thought they could.’
She very much hopes to be back next year and to find a rival who can help carry her to the overall record.
The newly-formed M3 Events will, meanwhile, continue to provide arduous endurance challenges for both local and visiting competitors.
‘Our focus as M3 Events is on off-road and multi-terrain events, and cliff running is also one of my passions,’ Merfield added.
They have launched a date of 16 May 2027 for the next edition of the round-island GU36 and are also looking into organising a third event, details of which are currently under wraps.
