ALDEN WILLIAMS/Stuff
Sam Harvey competes in the Krayzie Midwinter Backyard Ultra.
Sam Harvey has won another ultra-marathon, just 10 days after tying the world record for a 677km slog in Australia.
Harvey, from Canterbury, won the Krayzie Midwinter Backyard Ultra in Christchurch early on Monday in a total of 43 hours, covering a distance of 288km.
He began at 7.30am on Saturday, and finished at 2.20am on Monday as Harvey beat Brandon Purdue of Queenstown to complete 43 laps and raise money for youth mental health charity I Am Hope. Purdue called it quits after 42 laps.
In backyard ultras, competitors must consecutively run a circuit of 6.7km every hour. To get breaks for food, rest and medical attention they must cover the distance before the hour. The faster they cover the distance, the longer they get to rest.
Harvey said he almost failed in his quest for victory.
“I went too hard at the start and then spent all day on Sunday thinking I wasn’t going finish the race or win. I went to a dark place. Then I just decided to beat the s..t out of myself and even if I wasn’t going to win, to give my soul a bit of a thrashing for letting my ego get the better of me early in the race.
The 2021 Riverhead Backyard ReLaps Ultra saw 73 people compete to be the last person standing in New Zealand’s most brutal running race. (First published April 2021)
“I did that for so long that I forgot there was a race going on in the background, and soon there was only five of us left. I knew if I could take these men into their second night there would be a good chance most of them would drop off and they did.
“It ended up being just me and the same guy who came second to me at last year’s race. I had to hide my horribly injured Achilles (tendon), because if he had made me run another two hours, it would completely rupture.”
Barely a fortnight ago, Harvey fell just short of breaking the world record for ultra-distance running, after running non-stop for more than four days.
Harvey ran for 101 hours and covered 677km in the Australian Masters Backyard Ultra at Dead Cow Gully in Queensland.
LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff
Sam Harvey wins the Riverhead Backyard Relaps Ultra running race in April.
Along with Australian Phil Gore, Harvey equalled the existing world record when he completed his 101st lap of the course on an outback farm.
But Harvey pulled out at the start of the next lap, having suffered breathing difficulties from a suspected chest infection during the last eight hours, leaving Gore to claim victory in the event, and a new world record of 102 laps (684km).
Harvey raised $20,000 for I Am Hope in the Queensland race, and plans to complete in the Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra in Tennessee, United States, later this year.
He won the Riverhead Backyard ReLaps Ultra in April, despite running with broken ribs he suffered in a work accident several days before the race.
