Sarah Perry set an incredible Backyard Ultra women’s world record of 95 laps.

Competing at the 2025 Big's Backyard Ultra Individual World Championships in Tennessee, United States, Sarah Perry exceeded the previous world record of 87 laps, set by American Megan Eckert last year.

Backyard Ultras are rapidly gaining popularity worldwide. They involve runners completing a carefully measured lap of 4.167 miles every hour, on the hour. As the hours and days pass, runners drop out through exhaustion and injury until just one, the winner is left standing.

Sarah, an INOV8-sponsored athlete, also set a UK record, bettering Matt Blackburn’s previous best, which also stood at 87 laps.

At the World Championships in Tennessee, a total of 72 runners, each representing their country, started the race. The four-mile loop was run over a mixture of trails and roads.

Perry was one of four women to have qualified for the championships. Following a titanic battle, she was the last woman standing, with her nearest challenger racking up 92 laps before retiring.

The Cumbria-based runner pushed on to complete a further three laps, eventually retiring with a sore back shortly after lap number 95.

The 95 laps equate to 395 miles, almost the same as the distance between London and Edinburgh.

In total, Perry was racing for 95 hours (almost four full days). During that period, she slept for very little time, grabbing only naps in a tent in between some of the laps.

When 34-year-old retired, a further nine runners were remaining. The eventual winner was Australian Phil Gore with 114 laps, just five shy of his own men’s world record.

Perry said: “I've got mixed emotions. I'm quite disappointed that my back went when everything else was working so well. I had it in my legs and my head on reaching 100 laps, something I was really fixed on, but that's ultra running.

“It's going to take a while to process it all. I just need to catch up on sleep and then process what I've achieved.”

Before the race, Perry's best Backyard Ultra result was 59 laps, achieved in 2024. At the time, that was a UK women’s record.

Perry was crewed by her partner Luke, with whom she lives in Cumbria, close to the Lake District fells, where Perry does much of her training. She works as a maths teacher in adult education.

Sarah Perry's final race stats:
95 laps (women’s world record)
395.83 miles (637.032km)
Average lap time: 51:13
Last lap time: 57:38

Picture Credits: INOV8 / Jacob Zocherman and INOV8 / Ryan Edy