We are used to the fact that in most races, men and women do not compete with each other. Usually there is a separate standings, and in some cases the organizers of the race arrange a handicap when men try to catch up with the women who ran ahead.

But there is a start, where men and women are principal rivals. On the starting line, everyone is equal, and only one participant, regardless of gender, can become the winner. Meet Backyard Ultra — elimination race!

Each hour of the race, participants need to overcome a circle 6.7 km long. If the participant does not enter the new circle, he is eliminated from the race. This ultramarathon discipline has recently appeared in the world and has been gaining popularity in Russia in recent years.

Backyard Ultra is not just an elimination race. This is a start that has no finish. The finish appears only at the moment when fatigue or other circumstances take precedence over the penultimate participant. And then the remaining participant makes a kind of lap of honor — runs the last lap alone.

Vasily Korytkin and Irina Masanova spent almost two days without sleep to determine the winner of Biotropika (BUT). The race started on July 30 at 11:00 am and ended on August 1 at 9 am. During the race, our heroes staged a real ultra-marathon battle, as a result of which both set a new Russian record in the Backyard Ultra discipline.

About how hard it was and whether there is a «running limit», we talked with both record holders. Unlike the race, the interviews with each athlete were conducted separately.

– Why did you decide to take part in Biotropika (BUT)? Have you taken part in races of this format before?

Vasily Korytkin: Nikolai Kotenkov, the organizer of the race, offered me to take part in the race. I have heard about such competitions before, but I have never taken part in them. I was interested in the race format, and I decided to come.

Irina Masanova: I was also invited to BUT by the organizer Nikolai Kotenkov. I didn’t know until the very end whether I would participate. But my husband said that I was in great shape, so I had to go.

I participated in races of this format once. It was in October 2020 in Moscow. Then I ran 26 laps (174.2 km), but despite the fact that the forces remained, I decided to retire from the race. Shortly before that, the doctors diagnosed me with a hip tumor and said that I was unlikely to be able to run. So I decided to take care of myself.

— Were there any specific plans for the upcoming race? Maybe update the Russian record or your personal record?

Vasily Korytkin: My plan for the race is always the same — to win! It is with such thoughts that I go to all competitions. I didn’t think about how long it would take to run. I was ready for any scenario.

Irina Masanova: Yes, I had plans to update my personal record and run 38 laps, as I turned 38 the day before. And this is already more than the previous record of Russia. But I did not understand how much it would turn out in the end.

— Did you study the starting list of participants in advance? Who was considered their main rival?

Vasily Korytkin: I looked at the list, but of all the participants I knew only a couple of people. And one of them was Irina Masanova. But in such races, the main rival is yourself.

Irina Masanova: Yes, of course, I looked at the starting list. I immediately drew attention to Evgeny Gutenev, who ran on the St. Petersburg Backyard Ultra, and Maxim Egorov. But when Vasily Korytkin appeared among the participants, it became obvious who would be the main competitor. All others pale in comparison to him.

— Did you prepare for such a long race?

Vasily Korytkin: No, I didn’t prepare on purpose, because I decided to go to the race a couple of days before the start.

The week before I had run the T100 on GRUT. The race went badly. In front of the autonomous section, part of my equipment failed, as a result of which I was left without water and suffered a heat stroke. I didn’t have to count on winning, I just wanted to finish the distance. As a result, 6th place overall. Therefore, I especially wanted to win at BUT.

Irina Masanova: Now I don’t plan to run more than a week in advance. Therefore, there was no special training. I wasn’t sure if I could participate at all. Trained as usual. The day before, she ran the T100 distance on GRUT with her personal best — in 12 hours 5 minutes, and then on her birthday she ran a long 38 km workout.

It was only then that I realized that the form is excellent, which means that I need to go to BUT.

— Was there any special plan for nutrition and rest on the course? To what extent was it possible to realize the plan? Did you manage to get some sleep between runs?

Vasily Korytkin: I do everything according to my feelings, I don’t plan anything in advance. I arrived at the starting town on Friday evening to have a good sleep and to go to the start in the morning rested.

After each lap I tried to relax as much as possible. After some laps, I just lay there, after others, I fell asleep for a while. It is always difficult to calculate in advance how the body will behave, so you just need to learn to hear its signals.

There was no nutrition plan as such. I ate everything in a row, from fruits to pilaf. I drank cola, mineral water, tea, coffee, isotonic. There was a lot of food from the organizers — bars, croissants, buckwheat with meat.

Irina Masanova: I didn’t have a special plan. I wanted to run each lap at a calm pace, and rest before the start of a new lap. The main thing in the rest was to lie down, completely relax and, if possible, get some sleep. After some laps, I fell asleep for a while. In order not to oversleep, I set a bunch of alarm clocks on my phone in advance. They called 5 minutes before the start.

As for the food, everything was simple. Since the pace of running was not particularly intense, I decided not to bother and brought a little bit of everything with me. Plus, the organizers fed us very tasty food. Therefore, as it turned out, it was possible not to take anything special with you.

I drank cola, mineral water, jelly, isotonic, energy drinks, ate carbohydrate mixes, marmalades, Barney cakes, fruits and dried fruits, nuts, chips, salted fish or squid rings, etc. Some man brought pickles and bread at night, and we all ate it together by the fire. And there was nothing tastier at that time!

– What was the average pace throughout the race?

Vasily Korytkin: The average pace for each lap was 5:06 min/km. This speed gave me the opportunity not to strain during the run and about 25 minutes to rest after each lap.

Irina Masanova: I didn’t follow the pace at all. It was important for me that it felt comfortable, and I had a little time to rest. For about the first 14 laps I was moving 5:50-6:00 min/km. This speed made it possible to enjoy running.

Once, during a race, I fell and badly hurt my leg, so it became more difficult to run. At night, the pace became even slower, as I was afraid to fall again.

— What motivated you to go to the start of a new circle again and again? Especially when the two of you are at a distance.

Vasily Korytkin: My main motivation in life is my wife Darina. She always supports me, just like me, she does not sleep and is very worried. In addition, the whole Kuzbass was rooting for me! It was very energizing, especially when the host conveyed greetings and words of support from the general chat of the race!

Irina Masanova: I was motivated by the desire to update my personal record. In 2020, I retired full of energy. This time I was wondering: how far can I still run? So even though I had a lot of leg pain or stomach problems on some laps, I wanted to push myself to the limit. I wanted to reach the understanding that at some point in the race I could only move by crawling.

Going to the start of the last laps, I danced to let myself feel that I was still alive. And that gave me the impetus to keep fighting. Therefore, I fought not for victory, but for the right to reach the end

Throughout the race, I had several turning points when it became very difficult to run. It was on the 20th, 32nd and 40th laps. But I remembered my goals and somehow negotiated with my body.

— Did you expect that in the end the struggle would unfold between representatives of different sexes and would last almost two days?

Vasily Korytkin: Knowing Irina, I understood that such an alignment is possible. And after the first day I was sure that the race would continue on the second day.

Irina Masanova: Naturally, I understood that in the end I would be left alone with men. I did not see very strong participants in the starting list. At first I thought that I would fight for the victory with Maxim Egorov, but then I realized that the main fight would be with Vasily Korytkin.

— Have you reached your physical limit or could you continue to participate in the race?

Vasily Korytkin: My physical limit has not been reached. I could run a third day. Moreover, my team «Horns and Hooves» supported me very much. With these guys, anything is possible.

Irina Masanova: I have not reached my physical limit. The next day I went for a run as usual. And I didn’t have any pain except for my bruised leg.

This ridiculous accident unsettled me during the race. The pain after the fall made it difficult to run. At the end, it was already difficult to step on the foot. And on the last lap, she stopped obeying, periodically went numb. I was afraid of falling, especially when crossing bridges. Therefore, I decided not to take any more risks and finish the race.

If not for this fall, it would not have ended so quickly. And the race would definitely last more than two days. Surprisingly, I didn’t want to sleep. My muscles remained soft and full of strength.

– Are you satisfied with your result? Are there any plans to compete for a world record on Backyard?

Vasily Korytkin: I think I showed a good result. To fight for a world record, you need decent motivation. Although any record is just numbers that will fall sooner or later.

Irina Masanova: I am satisfied with the result. At the beginning of the race, I did not expect that I could run so many laps. Now I’m even more interested in what my limit is all the same. I like the Backyard format. I realized that I can and want to run in such races.

As for the world record, I can’t say anything yet, so I don’t look ahead for a long time. But for three days you can try to run: if you have the strength, then why not. I believe that nothing is impossible in the world. Maybe I will be the new world record holder next year.

What next races do you plan to participate in?

Vasily Korytkin: The next start, in which I will definitely take part, is the Russian 100 km championship. Haven’t thought about the rest yet.

Irina Masanova: I haven’t made a plan for future races yet. In Spartathlon, unfortunately, I can not participate yet. What interesting will turn up, then I will run. I’m always in good shape for ultradistances because you need your head first, not your legs.

— If you compare the BackyardUltra with other ultramarathons, for example, with a daily run, where was it easier to run?

Vasily Korytkin: Of course, Backyard is not the easiest race. First, you do not know when it will end, and you cannot fully calculate its outcome. Secondly, it usually lasts longer than a daily run. But, on the other hand, this race is easier because it has the opportunity to rest after each lap and you do not have to fight for the distance.

Irina Masanova: For me, the Backyard format turned out to be easier than participating in a daily run or Spartathlon, and in general, simpler than many ultra distances. I appreciate it by my condition after the race. Nothing hurt me, my muscles remained soft until the very end, there were no problems with sleep.

Once I wanted to run a day after my first “half”. And I imagined just such a format: running, rest, music, people and communication. Rested and ran again. Perfect run! The main difficulty is that there is no finish line, there is no limit when it is already possible to stop.

– How do you rate the organization of Biotropika and do you plan to take part in this race again?

Vasily Korytkin: I really liked the organization, and this despite the fact that Nikolai Kotenkov organized such a race for the first time. Everything was top notch. A cool place for a starting camp, a very comfortable and beautiful track, signs along the entire distance that cheered up, music, cuisine, volunteers. And the prizes are just fire!

I think that this is not the last time I take part in this race.

Irina Masanova: The organizing team did something incredible. I don’t even know who can do it again. I fell in love with this launch. Now it is even stronger for me than the Golden Ring Ultra Trail:

• The track is excellent, comfortable for the feet, but not monotonous: with beautiful views, a river, clear markings and lights at night.
• Amazing atmosphere in the starting town: energizing music, live concert, volunteers who were very supportive on the track.
• A judge who personally meets each runner at the start and finish for almost two days.
• Medals and awards on stage for each participant, even for those who ran only one lap.
• Funny signs all over the course that made us smile every time.

They even built a special bridge for us to avoid the ford, and covered the puddles with sawdust. Where else can you see this? I’m glad I took the risk and came. And I definitely plan to go to the start of BUT again next year. So far, this is the most fun and heartfelt race I’ve taken part in.

A little more about the ultra-race participants:

· In addition to our heroes, two more participants ran better than the previous Russian record in the Backyard Ultra discipline: Alexei Belousov — 38 laps (254.8 km) and Alexei Savchenko — 36 laps (241.4 km).

· 30 laps (201 km) were run by Nikolay Kotenkov, the organizer of the race.

· Svetlana Khisamutdinova ran 3 laps, i.e. 20 km off-road. She turned 78 this year.

· Three visually impaired athletes from the running club «Achilles» also overcame their distances. These are Svetlana Leontieva (12 laps), Artyom Goncharov (10 laps) and Pavel Afanasiev (5 laps).

· Olga Bekritskaya, the author of the interview, ran 7 laps (47 km), doing it barefoot on the roads. At the same time, she overcame 3 laps with a stroller in which her little son was sitting and peacefully watching what was happening at the race.