Dan's the last man standing in Backyard Ultra

Former Ramsey rugby player Dan Richmond was the last man standing at the completion of the inaugural Isle of Man Backyard Ultra at the weekend.

The event took place at Archallagan Plantation, starting at midday on Friday with a field of more than 130 competitors from an original maximum entry of 200.

The concept of a ‘Backyard Ultra’ is to complete a single lap of a 4.167-mile course once every hour, on the hour. Those who miss the cut are then effectively out of the event, and it carries on throughout the day and night until only one competitor is left. They have been known to last two or three days.

The 4.167-mile distance is significant as 24 laps adds up to 100 miles in one day.

Much of the entry was made up of fell runners and Parish Walkers as it is not about who is the quickest, it favours the fittest and those who are capable of battling through all types of conditions, not to mention being able to cope with sleep deprivation.

The majority set off on the half lap on the main circular fire road on the southern and western flanks of the plantation at a steady jog/walking pace.

The route then became more technical as it circled the pond, heading across to the eastern side with a couple of rises, and finally a narrower track into the centre of the plantation, before eventually emerging from the trees and heading to the start/finish area at the south-eastern corner car park where several marquees had been erected for kit storage, rest halts and administration.

Setting the initial pace after the opening couple of miles were local athlete James Read and Douglas & District footballer Ashley Humphrey.

On the insular loop, which lasted around 10 minutes, Humphrey sped ahead and by the completion of the lap he was 3m 24s clear of Read.

Next to enter the HQ area were resident American Tim Goldy, Mark Roberts, then a group of four consisting of Adey Callister, Stephen Caley, Richard George and marathon runner Shaun McEntee. They were followed swiftly by Chris Addy, Joel Newman, Gary Kelly, Alan Debenham, Alec Kneen and Ray Whitfield, with the first woman Holly Sumner in a group of three or four around 20th position.

Most had timed it just right to have a short break, a drink, a trip to the loo or whatever, before the field was called up to go under starters orders again for the restart at 1pm.

As they got under way for the second time, spits of rain were beginning to fall, so many had already donned waterproofs.

By mid-afternoon the rain had well-and-truly set-in and conditions rapidly deteriorated. It was very unpleasant to say the least.

Numbers had dropped to around 100 by 8pm and around 50 by midnight, by which time the rain had thankfully largely abated.

The field steadily reduced as the night wore on into the early hours and by dawn on Saturday it had reduced further to around one dozen - namely: David Williams, Tom Hughes, Scott Kelly, Harry Weatherill, Paul Carine, Paul Jennings, the aforementioned Richmond, Read and Addy, Phil Knox, Sam Cannell and the last two remaining women Joanne Howse and three-time Parish Walk winner Lorna Gleave.

The battle of mental resilience and physical fitness continued up to the 24-hour (100-mile mark) at midday Saturday, by which time the only competitors still circulating were Richmond, Williams, Hughes, Kelly, Weatherill, Howse, Carine, Read, Knox, Cannell and Gleave.

The latter four were happy to complete the 100 miles, with three more - Weatherill, Carine and final woman Howse - stopping after 25 laps (yards).

Kelly and Hughes completed 26 and 27 laps respectively, leaving only Williams and Richmond circulating at 4pm. Williams managed another three laps to take him beyond 6 o’clock and Richmond stayed on his feet for another lap beyond that (his 31st) - indeed his quickest of the entire event in 33min 36sec.

In total he was in motion for 24 hours and 11 minutes.

Aged 24, Dan is a sports masseur and private trainer. He coaches for Isle of Man Sport and Sport Aid, runs his own business – Richmond Performance and massage. He gave up rugby after breaking his eye socket in a collision. His own sport training is overseen by Nikki Arthur and Orran Smith, the joint organisers of last weekend’s event.

- Manx-born Phil Marshall, who won the Portland Pig event in Dorset earlier this year (completing 46 laps over two nights), completed 12 laps of the Archallagan course event as a warm-up for the Backyard Ultra World Team Championships that start a week on Saturday, October 17.

By winning the Dorset event, he earned a place in the Team UK line-up.