Capital Backyard Ultra
8th Capital Backyard Ultra
Waitlist only
Entry is by waitlist. Runners join it on UltraSignup and invitations go out on a rolling basis until the field of 65 is full.
Race dateMarch 20, 2027
Start8:00am
Whenin 192 days
First held2020
Free, and always will be. NavRun makes money from race-day planning for runners who want it, never from this.
Ultras change constantly, sometimes the morning of. Always confirm with the race director and the official website before you rely on anything here.
Distance
does not apply to this race
Climb
not checked yet
Descent
not checked yet
High point
not checked yet
Time limit
does not apply to this race
Aid stations
0
Started
not checked yet
The course
Where it goes
backyard
A 4.167 mile loop that starts at the top of every hour. Finish the loop inside the hour and you start the next one; the race goes on until one runner is left. Runners stage under a single pavilion a few seconds from the starting corral, with a 12 by 12 foot crew space each, and the aid station there carries ice, water and electrolyte drink throughout, with full food service from Saturday afternoon on.
There are two loops. From 7am to 7pm runners are on the day loop, flat open field for the first 0.7 miles and then a mix of dirt and crushed gravel bridle trails, with 300 to 350 feet of climb a lap. From 7pm to 7am they cross Gunston Road onto the night loop, a paved bike path that rolls but is mostly flat, with about 75 feet of climb a lap.
The race
What this one is
A backyard ultra at Meadowood Special Recreation Management Area in Lorton, Virginia, just outside Washington DC. Runners cover a 4.167 mile loop starting on the hour, every hour, until one runner is left: rolling bridle trail through the day, a paved bike path through the night. The field is capped at 65, everyone camps and crews under one pavilion a few seconds from the starting corral, and the aid station is run by two chefs who are ultrarunners themselves. The race calls itself a dress rehearsal for Big's Backyard Ultra, and much of its staff has worked there.
The first Capital Backyard Ultra was run on 1 August 2020. The next five editions were held in late May, and from 2026 the race moved to March. The 2027 running is the eighth.
Getting in
Getting in
Entry, lottery and what the race asks of you before race day.
- Lottery
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No
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- Lottery opens
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not checked yet
- Lottery draw
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not checked yet
- Field cap
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65
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- Registration
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UltraSignup
capitalbackyardultra.com
- Qualifying
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Automatic entry goes to runners who have completed a 100 mile race and to anyone who has run Capital before. From 1 December 2026, runners who have completed a 50 mile race may also be invited if spots remain.
capitalbackyardultra.com
- Minimum age
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not checked yet
- Transfers
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not checked yet
- Deferrals
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not checked yet
Crew access, pacers and drop bags
The rules that shape your day
Anything marked "not checked yet" is a gap in what we hold, never a no from the race.
- Crew allowed
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Yes
capitalbackyardultra.com
- Vehicles per runner
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not checked yet
- Pacers
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No
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- Muling
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not checked yet
- Drop bags
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not checked yet
- Cupless
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not checked yet
- Course marking
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not checked yet
- Night running
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Yes
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- Dogs
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not checked yet
- Headphones
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not checked yet
- Crew rules
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Crew and spectators stay out of the active course area. Aid, crew support, clothing changes, food and equipment adjustments all happen between yards, never during one. Once a yard is done and before the next bell, runners and crews use the recovery time however they choose. Runners may share supplies or help only with other runners who are in the same yard.
capitalbackyardultra.com
- Pacer rules
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No pacing is allowed, and no non-participants, including runners who have already been eliminated, may be on the course during a yard.
capitalbackyardultra.com
- Drop bag rules
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not checked yet
- Cutoff philosophy
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The format asks for three things: be in the starting corral when the bell rings, start with the bell, and complete the loop within the hour. Whistles sound at three minutes, two minutes and one minute. There are no late starts, and everything else follows from those three.
capitalbackyardultra.com
What it looks like out there
Somebody has been out there with a camera
the tables say the climb is long. these say what long feels like.
15 people have been out there with a camera or a microphone.
+ 7 more.
These are other people's work and we link straight to them. Watching costs nothing and needs no account.
More of them: every race we hold, on film.
Add to this page
What you know
every one of these is read by a person before it changes anything
Ran this race? Tell the next runner what you know.
Nobody sees it until we have read it. No account, no sign-in.
See something wrong or out of date? Suggest an edit.
This changes nothing on the page on its own. Somebody checks it against the race first.
Seen a course preview or a film of this one? Send it over.
Somebody watches it before it goes anywhere near this page. What we are after is footage of this course, on the ground. If it would be just as true of any other race, it is not this.
Have the GPX? Send us the link.
We want the address of the file the race publishes, not the file. We download it from there so the page can say where the line came from.
Are you the race director? Get in touch and we'll make it right.
We read every one of these and we write back. Every fact here carries the source it came from, and the way a wrong one gets fixed is a person checking it against what you tell us.
Where this came from.
Every fact on this page records its source and when we last checked it: 51 sources for this race. Hover a source link to read the sentence it came from.
29% of what we track for a course is filled in. The rest says "not checked yet" rather than guessing.
Ultras change. We will tell you when this one does.
Cutoffs move, races get postponed, lotteries open and close. We read the race's own sources and record where every fact came from. Put your email in and we will send you what changed, and where we read it.
No account, and nothing to cancel.
What happens to your email. Nothing else. I do not sell it, and I will not send you anything except this race changing. One click gets you out.
I keep this catalog because the information is scattered and hard to trust. Telling you when it moves is the same job.
Running this one?
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