Navan ultra-runner finished in top 20 at World Championships

Hannah McNamara

Navan ultra-runner Keith Russell ran 496km within 74 hours at the Big Dog's Backyard Ultra Individual World Championships.

This championships which began last Saturday morning in Bell Buckle, Tennessee is a great test of stamina and the Meath runner showed unbelievable focus finishing in the top 20.

The Backyard Ultra involves 75 athletes, representing 38 countries, all competing for the coveted title of the 'Last Man on Earth'.

Participants run a 6.7km loop every hour (on the hour mark), and they are eliminated if they fail to complete the loop within the hour.

While on his 75th loop, Keith didn't make it back in time and therefore received a 'DNF' (did not finish).

The path of the loop is on trails during the day and along a straight road after dark. The distance of each loop is equal to 100 divided by 24, so that a competitor runs 100 miles (160km) for a full day of competition.

In an interview with Oliver Callan on RTÉ Radio 1, Keith discussed his experience: "I am very proud of how I done. I gave it everything and the hour I didn't make it back, my body was just so tired. The day loop is so technical with rocks and tree stumps and I fell twice trying to get uphill. My body just wasn't reacting at all."

Within the hour, participants must find time to rest, eat, change clothes or shoes, and attend to any injures or issues. Keith said: "By day three I was probably getting about 12 minutes rest each hour."

Keith explained how the experience makes you feel almost 'robotic': "On the night loop because its straight out and back there's nothing to occupy your mind whatsoever. You'd be running down the road falling asleep. There were a couple of times I woke up and was nearly in the ditch."

The dedication Keith put into this race was evident through his "grueling" training: "There's weekends where I would stay awake for 40 hours and train in between."

Keith holds the Irish national record of 89 hours and is ranked 6th in the world having covered an incredible distance of 596.7km (over 24 marathons) in under four days at the ultra race in Retter, Germany last year.

Keith's crew person for the Backyard Ultra was Annabelle Smith. Annabelle had offered to crew for Keith two years ago when he was first to compete in the championships, but due to Covid he couldn't travel. Annabelle not only is an experienced runner but has also crewed and paced other runners in backyards and other races across the world.

Keith expressed his gratitude to Annabelle for giving up her time to join him in Tennessee: "All I had to do was run. She tended to everything else. I was so blessed to have her on my team, she was the reason we went to 74 hours."

Keith's passion and motivation for running comes solely from his daughter Alanna who passed away in 2017.

Alanna was born with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy, with no speech or use of her arms and legs. She became the youngest ever competitor in the Dublin City Marathon when Keith pushed her along the circuit in a specially adapted wheelchair. This became a shared hobby of theirs and they would go for Sunday morning runs in the Phoenix Park. "It was the best daddy-daughter day out I ever had," Keith said.

Roughly six weeks after the Dublin City Marathon, Alanna passed away aged eight. Keith said: "I then got into doing an ultra marathon. It was really my way of processing everything that was going on and dealing with Alanna's death."

He added: "I carry her with me everytime I go running. She's the driving factor behind everything that I do in running."

Even after Keith's tiring experience at the Backyard Ultra race, he plans to compete in the Dublin City Marathon this Sunday: "It's the one and only marathon that I done with Alanna and it's one I'll always do because it brings back fond memories with her. Regardless of how it goes I'll definitely be there."