In Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra, one bad hour can end everything.
Yes — the loop is only 4.167 miles.
But that loop adds up to 100 miles a day, stacked over days and nights with almost no sleep.
In this clip, Harvey Lewis shares what it was really like to run for four full days with zero sleep, and how everything unraveled on Day 5 when he started falling on the trail — again and again — from calorie deficits and extreme sleep deprivation.
One fall cracked his ribs.
He knew something was wrong.
But, as he says, “My spirit animal is the honey badger… and the honey badger doesn’t stop.”
Harvey kept running 12 more hours with broken ribs and an undiagnosed torn hamstring… until his body finally shut down at Hour 112, half a mile from completing another lap.
This is one of the wildest endurance stories you’ll ever hear — and a window into the resilience, mindset, and sheer grit behind the world’s most unusual ultra.
🎧 Listen to the full episode on the Ageless Athlete Podcast to hear how Harvey healed his broken body afterward — and the tools, sleep strategies, and mindset shifts that helped him recover faster than expected.
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