There Is No Finish

The Backyard Ultra Story

By: Stephen Parker

Narrated by: Stephen Parker

There is No Finish introduces the exploding world of the Backyard Ultra. Birthed from the high school musings of Lazarus Lake, renowned for the Barkley Marathons, the running event has spread globally—to over eighty countries— with sky-rocketing numbers.

Runners have up to one hour to complete a 4.1-mile lap. At the start of the next hour, again they attempt to complete the same lap. The race keeps going, with no finish, until all except one person gives up. The winner is the last one standing who does one lap more than anyone else.

With participants running until they drop, every race becomes an enthralling adventure with epic stories. Stephen Parker dives deep into the Backyard Ultra scene, running events, crewing for others, and exploring its amazing history. With races in Belgium, the USA, Australia, Sweden, Canada, Finland, South Africa, and many more, the book shares the agony and adrenaline of battles between colourful characters in stunning settings.

If there is no finish, how far can you run?

©2024 Stephen Parker (P)2024 Stephen Parker

Can’t help but sign up for a backyard ultra after reading this

Good history of the sport/event, some compelling specific events but some of it got pretty repetitive and long. Definitely makes you want to go for a 4.167 mile run and sign up for your nearest backyard ultra.

The book to read for anyone who loves Backyard Ultra

The best book I've read in recent years. It's everything you need to know about Backyard and all the stories happened during the major Backyard races.
I might be biased as I loved Backyard Ultra and participated in Big Backyard 2025 as Vietnam national champion.

The Book Seems Decent, The Audio Is Garbage

This is primarily a review of the audio quality and choice of narrator.

This audio book is extremely difficult to listen to. It's a perfect example of a writer who should not have narrated his own book. He has a thick Aussie accent, which isn't necessarily a problem by itself - add to that his tendency to drop a syllable or two from words and to get tongue tied mid sentence, and it begins to create a problem. It would probably have still been okay, except that it also sounds like he recorded it on a potato while hiding under a thick weighted comforter. I've never heard so many artifacts in such an incredibly muddy recording on Audible before, ever. It's bad enough that I returned it.

The book itself seems fine, and is a subject that I'm interested in (Lazarus Lake/Barkley Marathons/Big's Backyard/etc) so I'll probably pick it up on kindle and read it with my eyeballs instead.