Alexandra Airport Carousel Backyard Ultra

30/05/2026

Don't say we didn't warn you! 🚨

Only 1 seat left for Friday, 9 for Saturday, gab your seat before they're gone!

"This Is Bulls**t!" premieres at Clyde Cinema, Friday 12th and Saturday 13th June

Relive the moments that made this event so special, the smiles, the laughs and the tears, we captured every one of them 🎬

29/05/2026

🎟️TICKETS ARE LIVE! ✅
Can’t wait to see you all there!! 🎬🏃

https://www.trybooking.com/nz/BDRS

29/05/2026

🎟️ TICKETS ARE LIVE 🎟️

"This Is Bulls**t!" premieres at Clyde Cinema on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th June.

Seats are very limited across both nights, grab yours now!

29/05/2026

"This Is Bulls**t!" | 2026 Alexandra Airport Carousel BYU premieres at Clyde Cinema on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th June and tickets open tonight at 6pm.

Seats are very limited across both nights!

If you were running, crewing or following along on the live updates, or if you just want to see what an epic backyard ultra looks like on the big screen, don't miss this!

👉 Link in comments, tickets go live at 6pm ⏰

28/05/2026

"This Is Bulls**t!" TRAILER | 2026 Alexandra Airport Carousel BYU

Filmed at Alexandra Airport in the heart of Central Otago, New Zealand, "This Is Bulls**t!" follows the runners and the people behind the event.

Premiere at Clyde Cinema on Friday 12th and Saturday 13th June

Tickets on sale Friday

"This is Bulls**t!" OFFICIAL TRAILER | 2026 Alexandra Airport Carousel Backyard UltraA backyard ultra has no finish line. Runners complete a 6.7km loop every...

26/05/2026

🚨IT'S HERE!🚨

We've been reliving the epic weekend (and Monday) that was the 2026 Alexandra Airport Carousel BYU and every single time, it brings a huge smile to our faces.

Ben from Amaral Media had a camera in hand for the whole event and he's spent the time to perfect the film that captures every smile, high 5 and the odd tears.

Now you can relive it too

Clear your schedules for June 12th & 13th, the film premieres at Clyde Cinema at 7pm . Tickets open Friday and are very limited across the two nights.

If you were there or glued to the live updates, this isn't one to miss 👀

24/05/2026

RUNNER CELEBRATIONS
We’re celebrating the best part of the Carousel — YOU — with a series of posts sharing some of the great stories and achievements from out on the trail. Here we have Kieran Philip — our last person standing with 56 laps, a new PB, and back-to-back wins at the Carousel.

“My goal for Carousel was to get enough laps to get on to the NZ BYU team. Alongside that, I was keen to defend my title and take the win again! Supporting local events is pretty important, but this year I entered as I thought it would be a good course to chase a big total if I could get some other heavy hitters along.”

Kieran was last person standing at Arrowtown 2025 with 40 laps, but left feeling like he still hadn’t reached his limit and that there was more to give. However, the Carousel was anything but smooth sailing.

“My race didn’t go 100% to plan. I started getting hip issues about lap 5 which caused me to be less enthusiastic than I may otherwise have been! My wife Amy came down after the first night and helped pull me out of my funk, which was crucial. The rest of the race played out pretty well. Having Brion, Paul, and Jeremy there with similar goals was super helpful as we were able to talk and encourage each other.”

He also made a point to credit his crew. “A massive thank you to my support people. I consider it a team sport and couldn’t have done it without them!”

We had a laugh when we asked Kieran what his favourite moment was, because the answer was “finishing” 🤣

“I think that final lap was probably it. Running that loop knowing that you get to stop at the end of it without quitting is something pretty special. Running in to see Amy at the finishing line was pretty emotional.”

His advice to anyone considering a BYU is just to “give it a nudge. We all have our limits, and running 2 loops might be just as life changing as running 50.”

We can’t wait to see what’s in Kieran’s future and where his limit truly lies. Congratulations to a very determined local on an incredibly tough performance, and good luck at Worlds!

14/05/2026

RUNNER CELEBRATIONS
We’re celebrating the best part of the Carousel — YOU — with a series of posts sharing some of the great stories and achievements from out on the trail. Next up, Maya Edmondson, aged 20, and our last woman standing with 34 yards/228kms!

Maya came into Carousel with a Backyard PB of 30 loops, set when she was just 18 years old at Scenic Circles BYU. But after a disappointing experience at Sandy Point earlier this year, where she stopped after 28 loops feeling isolated and flat, her focus shifted. This time, instead of chasing numbers, she wanted to connect with people and genuinely enjoy the experience.

Throughout the race she shared laps, conversations and encouragement with runners of all levels, including fellow runner Jocy who was tackling her first ever BYU with a goal of reaching ultra distance. The two shared stories and encouragement while running together on Jocy’s final lap, finishing no longer as strangers. That was just one of many interactions out on course that left a lasting impression. "Those moments broke up the race, lifted my mood, inspired me and made the event so memorable."

There were challenges too. Maya’s period arrived two days before the race, which she said initially felt wildly inconvenient, but running through it became another reminder of what the body is capable of. She hopes more women back themselves, even when things feel uncomfortable, because being a woman does not make you fragile.

She described the Backyard format as incredibly social and deeply personal at the same time. "You can spend all day surrounded by people, then suddenly find yourself alone in your own head at 3am".

Maya is quick to credit her support crew, with her brother crewing through the first day before dad Grant took over after finishing his own race. Having someone who understood the demands of a BYU when she was too tired to think clearly made all the difference. "Quite literally, thanks Dad for massaging my stinky feet hour after hour:)"

“The BYU format strips things back to the simplest form - one loop at a time.
34 loops, 228km, and last female standing will always mean something to me but it's not what I'll remember most.
This time, instead of chasing how many I could do, I focused on how I experienced them, the connections, the perspectives and a genuine enjoyment of the process.
And that's what will bring me back.”

Massive congratulations Maya. An incredibly mature, thoughtful and inspiring performance from a seriously impressive young athlete.

09/05/2026

RUNNER CELEBRATIONS
We’re celebrating the best part of the Carousel — YOU — with a series of posts sharing some of the great stories and achievements from out on the trail. Next up, Wenlong Du, originally from China and now based in Queenstown.

Wenlong's story is INSANE. "I signed up 2 weeks before the race started, did some research and watched some videos, practiced for a week then tapering to save the joints". This was his first BYU...
..and he ran 24 laps. 160 kilometres.

THAT. IS. PHENOMENAL.

Wenlong said he wanted to see how far he could push himself, having not raced beyond a marathon in five years. The first 100km felt controlled, but then the night brought some dark patches. Around 110km he hit a real low, but fought through it, came out the other side, and just kept moving. Even at 130km, when eating was getting hard and his whole body was hurting, he still looked composed and even like he was still enjoying himself. It took a worsening ankle and Achilles injury to finally stop him after 24 laps.

What stands out to us is how much he clearly had in him mentally. He came away convinced that with proper training he could go much, much further — and after watching him out there, we believe it!

His favourite thing about the Carousel was the people (same!) and the beauty of the course. He spoke about always coming back through the gate to people cheering for him, even all through the night, and loved the stretch of trail lined with yellow poplars reflected in the water beside the path.

His advice for anyone considering a Backyard is: "Come to enjoy the running and the community. Sign up early so you have enough time to train properly. (lol)
"And remember: you are stronger than you think. When your body wants to give up, the ultra is only just beginning".

Massive congratulations Wenlong. To run 160km off a week of training is honestly wild. To do it smiling is even better. What a debut.

07/05/2026

RUNNER CELEBRATIONS
We’re celebrating the best part of the Carousel — YOU — with a series of posts sharing some of the great stories and achievements from out on the trail. Next up, Georgia, aged 17 from Dunedin (one of our youngest and least experienced runners!).

Georgia came into the Carousel Backyard Ultra with a goal of four laps — partly because she genuinely had no idea how far she could go, and partly because this wasn’t just her first Backyard Ultra, it was her FIRST RACE EVER. "I was actually peer pressured into entering the Carousel BYU by my running buddy, and I had no idea I was doing it until about 3 weeks beforehand. Safe to say I was absolutely terrified when he dropped that bomb." 🤣 (she's talking about Luke, who is in her DNF photo and who also completed 4 laps 💪).

We love this story because it captures what BYUs are all about. It doesn’t matter whether your goal is four laps or forty — it’s about turning up, challenging yourself and finding out what you’re capable of. Georgia hit her goal, loved the experience, and has already made it clear she’ll be back in 2027 to better her result.

She said "The vibes were awesome, the trail was beautiful and the company was even better. It made me love running even more and I can’t wait to come back and smash my result in 2027!" This is a pretty cool outcome for a first-ever race!

Her advice for anyone thinking about entering is simple but brilliant — throw yourself in the deep end, whatever that looks like for you, and do your best, because you’ll only regret what you don’t do.

Massive congratulations Georgia. Four laps, first race, age 17 — an awesome debut, and we’ve got a feeling there’s plenty more to come!

03/05/2026

RUNNER CELEBRATIONS
We’re celebrating the best part of the Carousel — YOU — with a series of posts sharing some of the great stories and achievements from out on the trail. Next up, Michelle Blanchard from Alexandra, who turned 50 this year and decided to celebrate it in an unusual way!

Camera-shy Michelle might not be making a fuss about her achievement, but there’s a determined streak there that tells us plenty. She came into the Carousel Backyard Ultra with one clear goal: run 50km to mark turning 50. For her, that was a big hard challenge. She’d run a couple of marathons in her 20s, but hadn’t done much running since, and the lead-up was far from ideal, with COVID, a hip strain, a neck strain, gastro and even an infection in her arm all getting in the way of training! Her longest training run was only 25km, and she nearly didn’t enter at all, but in the end decided to go ahead anyway since it wasn't a set distance so it didn't really matter if she only did a few rounds 😜

But she did — and in classic understated fashion, she didn’t stop at 50km. She kept going to 10 laps, running 67km and comfortably surpassing the goal she’d talked about for years. That says a lot about her grit!

What we love about Michelle’s story is that she didn’t let imperfect preparation stop her from showing up, and once she was out there, she found herself enjoying it so much she exceeded her expectations and has already entered another BYU (Arrowtown). That probably tells you everything you need to know (she's hooked!).

Michelle said she loved how inclusive the Carousel BYU felt, which is something we’re really proud of. Being close to home was a bonus too - she got to run a Backyard in her backyard 😆

Her advice for anyone thinking about giving a BYU a go is simple — "Take it slow and don’t put limits on yourself - you might surprise yourself with how far you can go if you’re stubborn enough!"

Massive congratulations Michelle — what a way to celebrate turning 50!