Furbutt’s Backyard 24 Hour

Furbutt’s Backyard 24 Hour is held over Memorial Day within the federal Bureau of Land Management’s Meadowood Special Recreation Area on Mason Neck, near Lorton at the southern end of Fairfax County, Virginia. The start/finish location is at the corner of Gunston Road and Harley Road, underneath a large horse pavilion.

The Backyard format originated with Lazarus Lake’s Backyard runs. The concept is simple and ingenious: Runners have one hour to complete a 4.167-mile course. Runners must then be in the start line corral at exactly the top of the next hour ready to start the next “yard” (or loop), or they’re out of the race.

Furbutt’s is the Virginia Happy Trails Running Club’s low-key version of a Last Man Standing Backyard event. It is modeled off of the Capital Backyard Ultra, and it uses the same course that Capital employs for its Last Man Standing race (held in late March). That course is composed of bridle trails that primarily wooded, with some sections crossing open meadows.

In addition to being a challenging run, Furbutt’s Backyard 24 Hour is also a great way to experience the Backyard format. This is an excellent opportunity to run your first marathon, 50K, 50-mile, or 100-mile run, because the Backyard format forces you to rest early and often, which can help you run a longer distance than you thought possible.

It is also provides an excellent opportunity to meet other runners and build community, since you’ll be starting as a group every hour, sharing the same “yard,” and in close proximity under the horse pavilion at the one and only aid station. And since the goal is to just finish each yard with enough time to get ready for the next yard, even the fastest runner is generally not overly incentivized to try to run that hard.

Whether you are a seasoned ultrarunner or a beginner, Furbutt’s Backyard 24 Hour is a great way to test your limits and see how far you can push yourself.

We will be charging a $25 fee to help cover expenses for the 24 Hour race. Since we are charging a fee to cover the BLM permit and other expenses, you will not be expected to bring any food or beverages to share (which is commonly requested of runners at other VHTRC events). We will provide some snacks, water (and ice!), and Gatorade. You should plan to bring any additional food or beverages that you anticipate needing during the race for your own use at your personal aid station.

The Course

The course starts on a flat, open grassy field for 0.7 miles and then the terrain transitions to a mix of dirt and crushed gravel bridle trails that are mostly flat, with some gentle ups and downs on the remainder of the course. The total elevation gain per loop is 300-350 feet.

If you would like to visualize the course, check out this 2-minute Furbutt Backyard Tour, courtesy of Tudor Novac (2024 event).

Videos of runners during the first yard during the 2024 race at the turn off the Thompson Creek Loop trail on to the Wood Thrush Loop trail and making their way back to the finish on the Mustang Trail. Videos courtesy of the BLM’s Ryan Jackson.

Aid Station

Runners will be responsible for bringing their own food and aid, but we will provide water (plus, ice!), Gatorade and snacks. With a very large horse trailer pavilion covering the start/finish area, runners will have an ideal location to store whatever they will need for their backyard adventure, and no runner will be more than a 5-10 second walk from the starting line.

Crew Access

Crews will be allowed at the one and only aid station for the duration of the event. Crew access is strictly forbidden anywhere else on the course. Crew contact with their runners, and vice versa, is also strictly forbidden within the corral after a yard begins. There will be warning whistles with three minutes, two minutes and one minute to go before the start of each yard. There will also be verbal warnings with 30 seconds and then 15 seconds to go, at which point the runners should be in the corral, crew should be outside of the corral, and no further physical exchanges should occur.

Parking is in the grass field behind the horse pavilion, so your vehicle will be in very close proximity to the starting corral.