Arrowtown Backyard Ultra 2025
Sat 8 Nov 2025 9am until the last person is standing!
Butler Green (Event Village) & Arrow River Trail (Course)
The 2023 and 2024 events were SOLD OUT with the 2024 event selling out in 2 days!
We expect the 2025 event to SELL OUT in 1 day!
How far do you think you could run?
Marathon? 100km? 100miles?
Are you interested to see how far you can go?
Test your limits, enter the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra now!
“If you’re going to face a challenge, it has to be a real challenge. You can’t accomplish anything without the possibility of failure”
— Laz
What is a backyard ultra?
The backyard ultra involves competitors running 6.71km on the hour every hour until the last person is standing. Competitors that don’t complete a lap within 1 hour or are not in the starting corral for the start of the next lap are recorded as DNF (Did Not Finish). The winner is the last person to complete a lap when all others have given up.
It’s easy until it’s not!
6 laps is a marathon (well, pretty close) – 15 laps is 100km – 24 laps is 100miles
But why stop there, keep going for ‘just one more lap’!
Run further than you’ve ever run before, enter the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra now!
Are you willing to keep lining up for the next lap?
Then another!
Everyone can’t be the ‘last person standing’.
But you can be your best!
Anything is possible with commitment, tenacity and a willingness to give your all!
The difference between an ultra-run and a backyard ultra is the mental toughness needed to keep lining up for another lap.
With the right mental attitude, you will go further than you’ve ever gone before!
Clock up the miles, meet new people, push your limits, set a new personal best, enter the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra now!
“There is no mercy in a backyard, there is no good try, there is only success or failure”
— Laz
Great course + awesome support crew + supportive atmosphere = personal success!
Course
The Arrow River Trail is the ideal backyard ultra course!
o 6.71km course of predominantly hard packed trail while also including a winding single trail through the bush.
o Follow Bush Creek and the Arrow River, enjoy the shade cover.
o Cross Bush Creek twice, 2 pedestrian bridges over the Arrow River – no wet feet!
o There’s a few small inclines that you will probably walk but otherwise this is a hard and fast course!
o The Strava course elevation is 48m.
o Enjoy your run as locals and tourists cheer you on!
Check out these videos!
Event Village
Butler Green is the ideal event village that will ensure your support crew love the experience!
o The event village is in the heart of Arrowtown, anything you might need (cafe’s, bakery etc) is only a stones throw away.
o Your support crew will be able to soak up the amazing atmosphere while you run lap after lap along the Arrow River Trail.
o This is a self-supported event. You will need to provide your own gazebo, chair, food and water etc.
o We will have a microwave and jug in the timing tent that runners/support crew can use. We will also have limited capacity for power points for charging cell phones etc.
o Each competitor will be able to erect a gazebo (3m x 3m) within the event village.
Atmosphere
The atmosphere of the event village is what sets a backyard ultra apart from any other event. The buzz of starting and finishing another lap is always uplifting. Every runner is celebrated as a winner, lap after lap until you find your limit. Every lap provides the opportunity for personal greatness. The loudest cheer won’t be for the last person standing, it will be for the runner that needs to sprint towards the starting corral with seconds to spare and then turns around for just one more lap, that’s the experience we all want to be a part of!
Are you excited to test your limit?
Enter the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra now!
Nervous?
You should be!
You’re potentially on the path to running further than you’ve ever run before!
Schedule
o Friday night gazebo set up: 3pm – 8pm (you cannot stay overnight at Butler Green on Friday night, the Arrowtown Campground is a great option)
o Registration: Friday 6pm – 8pm or Saturday 7:30am – 8:30am
o Race Briefing: Saturday 8:45am
o Race Start: Saturday 9am
o FREE Kids Trail Race: Saturday 12:05pm (just after the start of Lap 4)
o Race Finish: Who knows…100+ laps???
Team Event
o Get your friends together and run as a team of 4!
o Each team member must still enter and run as an individual competitor, it’s not turnabout.
o When one team member DNFs, the other team members keep going, your DNF team member will then cheer you on and support you to continue clocking up laps!
o Race as a team, encourage each other, push each other to achieve your personal bests!
o Teams will be mens, womans or mixed.
o Following entering as individuals, just email brandon@arrowtownbackyardultra.co.nz with your team members and team name.
Race Rules
o Competitors must complete each lap within 1 hour.
o Competitors that don’t complete a lap within 1 hour or are not in the starting corral for the start of the next lap are recorded as DNF (Did Not Finish).
o There will be a warning sound 3, 2 & 1 minute before the starting bell. Note: Due to noise restrictions, from 8pm – 8am, this warning sound will not be loud. Your support crew will be responsible for ensuring you’re in the starting corral on time.
o Competitors must follow the set course (except for toilet stops).
o Supporters (include eliminated runners) are not allowed on the course to support competitors. Note: Public will be on the course and you must give way to them.
o You are not to receive support (i.e. food or drink) during a lap (including just after the start).
o All support must be provided within the event village between laps.
o No artificial aids (i.e. trekking poles).
o No pacing.
o If no runner can complete one more lap than anyone else, then there is no winner.
Entry Cost
Entry - $220
Entries are limited!
Get into it!
Additional 3% credit card transaction fee applies. If you don’t want to pay the credit card transaction fee, you can process a bank transfer for just the entry cost.
Backyard Ultra World Team Championship
Do you want to represent NZ in the Backyard Ultra World Team Championship on October 2026?
The Arrowtown Backyard Ultra provides you with the opportunity to qualify for the World Team Championships.
With 15 spots up for grabs in the NZ team, 3 spots will be taken by the winners of the 2026 Silver Ticket events - Riverhead Relaps, Krayzies and Pigs. The remaining 12 spots will be the highest yards achieved by Kiwis during the qualifying period (16 August 2024 – 15 August 2026).
As such, the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra in November 2025 is a qualifying event for the World Team Championships in October 2026. As at Nov 2024, you need to complete 49 or more laps to make the NZ ‘At Large’ list. The Arrowtown Backyard Ultra course is ideal for clocking up big numbers! The Arrowtown Backyard Ultra course accounted for most of the NZ team placings in 2024!
The winner of the NZ World Team Championships in Oct 2026 then receives an entry to the Individual World Championships at Big’s Backyard Ultra in October 2027.
FREE Kids Trail Race
Start/Finish Butler Green, Arrowtown
Registration 11:40
Race Briefing 11:50 (just before lap 4 of the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra)
Start Sat 9 Nov 12:05 (just after the start of lap 3 of the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra)
Prizegiving 12:35
1km loop around Bush Creek (tail end section of the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra course)
Run 1, 2 or 3 loops
Entry is FREE
Come along and enjoy the race atmosphere of the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra which will ensure that the kids have lots of supporters to cheer them on as they run 1, 2 or 3 laps of the 1km course.
Age limit is Under 12 or Primary School Children
Parents/Caregivers can run with their child
Check out the video above for footage of the 2024 Kids Trail Race
Queenstown Trails Trust Charity Challenge
o We expect the 2025 Arrowtown Backyard Ultra to SELL OUT very fast. As such, we will hold 4 entries as Charity Challenge spots.
o Once the event has sold out and we have a growing waitlist, 4 runners will have the opportunity to purchase an entry through our Charity Challenge.
o This will involve donating $500 per entry to the Queenstown Trails Trust while also processing the $220 Arrowtown Backyard Ultra entry fee. You could fundraise for the $500 donation and/or entry fee.
o 4 runners will then have a guaranteed spot in the 2025 Arrowtown Backyard Ultra.
o Please note that your donation must be made after the event has sold out, i.e. prior donations wouldn’t apply.
o The event refund policy will apply to your entry fee, but there would be no refunds for your donation if you have to withdraw from the race.
o Please email brandon@arrowtownbackyardultra.co.nz to clarify any questions and confirm your interest. Brandon will then advise the process to confirm your donation and entry.
Contact Us
If you’re still unsure if the Arrowtown Backyard Ultra is the right event for you, then email brandon@arrowtownbackyardultra.co.nz and we’ll answer all of your questions.
This event is brought to you by Brandon Purdue in partnership with Highland Events.
There is no finish!
“The true heart and soul of the backyard is any runner who steps into the starting corral to seek their personal limits”
— Laz
