NEEDHAM, Mass. – When Kiko Bracker and Bill Gallagher first organized the MetroWest Backyard Ultra in 2022, they hoped to create an opportunity for runners in the greater Boston area to try out a unique format of racing that was growing in popularity.

In just three short years, they’ve built something special.

The first edition of the event saw 26 runners try out the format, most of them members of the local Needham Running Club who were there to run for an hour or two at the Needham Town Forest. The event lasted 12 hours and the winner, Daniel Leonard, ran 50 miles. In 2023, the event grew to 30 runners and Jason Kaplan needed 17 hours and 70.89 miles of running to earn the victory.

For year three, a whopping 164 runners registered and 134 ultimately toed the starting line – a field more than four times larger than the event had ever seen.

“We just advertised it better and a lot of people heard about it,” Bracker said. “I can’t imagine it’s all word of mouth, but I think one is just getting the word out there that this is happening, and then the format of running backyard ultras is catching on and it’s just in the lexicon now in a way that it wasn’t three years ago. We’re just riding a bit of a groundswell for this race format we happen to be doing.”

When Bracker arrived on race morning to set up for the third annual event on Saturday, Sept. 28, he was stunned to discover he was far from the first person there.

“Last time there was one guy with a tent,” Bracker recalled. “There were half a dozen more tents up this year, and I was like, ‘Oh, my God! What are we up against?’”

Bracker knew they’d have a bigger field – much, much bigger – this year. Around 130 runners pre-registered online by the time he and Gallagher closed online registration three weeks before the race. About three dozen more runners signed up on race day.

Excitement and anxiety ruled the morning as Bracker pulled up to the trailhead a few hours before the 8 a.m. start to set up.

“Somebody got here at 5:20 before I did to make sure they got a spot, which is wonderful,” Bracker said. “Without a doubt we were worried about getting everybody registered in time and signed up. The excitement was overwhelmed a little bit by the anxiety of potentially having a hitch; we’ve largely avoided it, so I’m thrilled with that.”

The only major hitch Bracker and Gallagher faced came a few weeks before the race. The town began a construction project at Claxton Field, the typical staging ground for the race. Bracker and Gallagher had obtained approval and a permit well in advance, but they weren’t notified of the construction project that would force them to reroute part of the course and move the start/finish area. Bracker discovered it on his own, and after a few weeks of phone calls and emails he obtained approval to move the start/finish to a nearby trailhead.

“I did have to change the course,” Bracker said. We just changed it a little bit. It’s still 75 percent the same, but we had to go on some rocky roads. I prefer bigger fire roads. The fire roads I took it on are getting pretty narrow and have a bunch of rocks. It’s mostly still the same, but there’s some more technical areas this year.”

At 8 a.m., the race began promptly. A pink Hello Kitty clock was mounted on a tree and kept the official time. Runners had one hour to complete the 4.17-mile loop course – a mix of rocky fire roads, trail and smooth rail trail – and return to the starting line to begin the next hour. Those who failed to complete the loop within the hour were eliminated, and the process repeated itself on the hour, every hour, until just one runner remained.

Hour 1 started with 134 runners, and the whittling down of the field quickly began. Seven runners were done after the first hour. Six more stopped after Hour 2. By the time Hour 6 was done (25.02 miles), the field was trimmed in half as 66 runners remained.

“We took a survey initially and for most people it’s their first time doing (a backyard ultra), and we told them this is what we do this for,” Bracker said. “Those are the ones we really hold dear are the first-timers and the novices who want to get their feet wet and have a bit of an ultra experience; it’s very friendly to that. It’s easier than saying ‘let’s go run 30 miles’ if you break it up like this.”

The remaining field ventured into ultramarathon territory. Sixty-six runners completed at least seven loops for 29.19 miles. Seventeen runners lasted at least 12 hours for 50.04 miles. Six runners – Logan Beaudoin; Ben Andeken of San Francisco, Calif.; Amadeo Casas Cuadrado of Brookline, Mass.; Juliana Castrillon of Needham, Mass.; Brandon Dorr of Lynn, Mass.; Rob Lynch of York, Pa.; and Michael Spencer of Barrington, R.I. – all ended their day after 12 hours of running.

Hour 13 was the last for Clark Magnan of Quincy., Mass., Andrew Zoller of Roslindale, Mass., and Ryan Hanna of West Hatfield, Mass., who each completed 54.21 miles. With that trio on the sideline, the field was down to just seven runners. An hour later, David Catarius of Shrewsbury, Mass., stopped after 58.38 miles of running. Timothy Haven of Dedham, Mass., surpassed the 100K distance, but after 16 hours he was done with 66.72 miles on his legs.

Five runners continued on, but not much longer. Frank Gafford of Westborough, Mass., Dan McCabe of Whitman, Mass., and Kit Pang of Boston, Mass., all finished the 17th hour of running, but 70.89 miles marked the stopping point for the trio. Just two runners continued onward.

Kaplan, the defending champion from Northampton, Mass., and Cory Grant of Beverly, Mass., stepped to the starting line for the 18th hour. Grant trotted through the loop in around 50 minutes, just as he had for most of the day. Kaplan continued to deploy the strategy that worked during his 2023 victory, walking briskly and picking his spots to run, completing each loop with a few minutes to spare. They continued the routine for Hour 19 and Hour 20.

A few minutes before 4 a.m., Bracker called Grant and Kaplan back to the starting line to begin Hour 21. Both had 83.4 miles on their legs and were about two hours away from morning light. A 4 a.m. sharp, Bracker sent them on their way but Kaplan didn’t budge. He stood on the starting line and clapped as Grant headed out into the Town Forest by the glow of his headlamp. Less than an hour later, Grant emerged from the woods. After 87.57 miles, he was the last person standing and the winner.

Grant’s victory closed out a remarkable year for the MetroWest Backyard Ultra. He set an event record for most hours and miles completed, and the event shattered its previous record for participation. While the backyard format has exploded in popularity worldwide, it is evident that something truly special is happening at the event in Needham. New runners flocked to the event this year, but many of those who’ve participated previously keep coming back. Around half of the field from the 2023 race returned to run in 2024. That included Kaplan, as well as Bruce Leung of Natick, Mass., who has participated in the event all three years.

“It’s really cool that it has grown so much,” Leung said. “The first year it was just word of mouth; it wasn’t really well publicized. A lot of people really only came to do two or three laps. Last year was a little more serious; there were probably three or four guys who were there to compete. And this year, it’s just like … it’s huge! It’s exponential growth, but I think it’s really cool that this little thing that Kiko and Bill came up with has just gotten legs and grown.”