Ultra backyard 1300 2027

Villar or Villard? Even the local signs hesitate over the final d 🤔. Don't worry, the only D that will matter here is the D+ 😉. At the gates of Briançon, in the Hautes-Alpes, the village of Villar-Saint-Pancrace hosts the Ultra Backyard 1300 at the foot of its mountain center, set at 1,300 m of altitude, the number you find in the name of the race 🏔️. See you in mid-June, when the Briançonnais usually shows off its finest blue sky 🌤️. The mountain does keep a little thunderstorm in reserve for those overly heavy late afternoons ⛈️. At night, the altitude takes back its rights: the rules themselves warn that June nights remain cool at this height, so your fleece will be waiting patiently for you in the camp zone 🧥.

The principle is a 5.7 km loop with about 100 mD+, to be completed in under an hour before getting back to the corral and setting off again at the next bell 🔁. The course leaves the mountain center, runs along the edge of the forest on the mountain slope and winds between firs and larches 🌲. Along the way, you will cross a stream, run alongside open fields and keep the peaks of the Briançonnais in your field of view. The profile remains runnable, with just enough kicks to make your thighs keep count of the laps 📈. Day or night, the course does not change by a single meter, marked with reflective tape that will glitter under your headlamp 🔦. A little detail for the math lovers: 5.7 km and 100 mD+ give 6.7 km-effort according to the FFA calculation, which is almost the distance of the legendary loop of Big’s Backyard Ultra, in Tennessee 🇺🇸. A coincidence of the calculation or a deliberate nod? 🧐 We'll let you ask the organizer between two loops.

Here, there is no clock to beat in the traditional sense: all that counts is the number of loops completed on time ⏱️. All formats set off at the same bell and everyone stops at their quota. One loop to taste the concept, three for a long run, six for a discovery trail distance, twelve solo or in a relay for two 🤝. That leaves the Ultra, the real backyard with no time limit, where only the last runner standing wins, and where the runner-up leaves with the honorary title of assist 🍫. On the organizational side, the Ultra Backyard 1300 relies on well-oiled mechanics: three signals before each start, an RFID chip in the bib to record each lap, and a first aid post at base camp 📡. The race is experienced in semi-self-sufficiency, with a personal cup in your pocket and zero disposable cups on site 🌱. The organizer sums it up in one idea: competition takes a back seat, and kindness gives the format its spice. There is no kids' race on the program; the shortest loop opens from the cadet category.

Between two laps, keep an eye on the facades of the old village: Villar-Saint-Pancrace has a collection of sundials, including one dated 1773 and another painted in 1821 on the facade of the Saint-Pancrace church ⏳. For a format where everything is played out on the hour, it's hard to dream of a better neighbor. The village also preserves the memory of its coal mines, operated from the 18th century until 1960, whose rails and mine carts remain along the sentier des Mineurs (Miners' Trail), starting from the mountain center ⛏️. You too will go to the coal face, one hour after another. The next day, head to the Vauban city of Briançon and its fortifications listed as UNESCO World Heritage 🏰, or the Col de l’Izoard, a legendary playground of the Tour de France 🚴. At the table, Hautes-Alpes tourtons will put energy back into your legs, and a little glass of génépi will celebrate your number of loops, in moderation 🥃. Still hungry for elevation? The trails in the Hautes-Alpes and the Névache - Val des Prés - Briançon half marathon are waiting for you in the area.

On the sundial of the village school, a motto states that “the sun still turns”. Here, you will turn too, as long as the bell rings 🔔.