After nearly 41 hours of running, Sergeant Jacob Garlick was the last person to cross the finish line in his race at Maribyrnong Valley Park earlier this month. 

But in the last-man-standing format of Backyard Ultras, he was the winner, equalling the course record and running more than 274km.

Competitors in Backyard Ultras run a 6.7km lap – or yard as it is known in the community – every hour on the hour, until only one person remains. 

Sergeant Garlick started competing in the races after working his way up through marathons and trail ultramarathons to push his endurance limits.

As the races have no defined end, he said having a mental edge over opponents was crucial.

“It comes down to race experience, learning from your failures and also your successes – when you get through the hard patches in earlier races and knowing you can weather the storm,” Sergeant Garlick said.

“Maintaining discipline in training helps. You have to make sure you stick to what you planned on doing.”

Every race has its ups and downs – stages of grief that the body and mind go through with lack of sleep and constant running – but Sergeant Garlick liked to remain upbeat during the darkest hours. 

Preferring to run at night, he listened to podcasts and varied music to pass each lap, with a special pick-me-up playlist for when the going got tough.

'Maintaining discipline in training helps. You have to make sure you stick to what you planned on doing.'

The Maribyrnong Valley Park race was Sergeant Garlick’s second victory this year.

On New Year’s Eve he competed in the inaugural Aussie Alpine Backyard Ultra at Falls Creek, running for 22 hours through surprise sub-zero temperatures to start 2026 on a high.

A shorter race than usual because of the cold weather and altitude, he noticed competitors starting to fall off around the 15-hour mark.

At Maribyrnong, it was not until the 36th yard that he began to feel the edge over his competitors – still feeling strong despite having no support for the longer race.

With about 13 minutes to spare at the end of a yard, Sergeant Garlick had to prepare his food for the next one, refill water and eat – each task taking precious recovery time.

When his final competitor did not start the 41st hour, Sergeant Garlick ran the lap knowing he had won.

“It was a good feeling to know I’d won, but it was still tough. I had been running for a while by that time,” he said.

“Thinking back, it would have been nice to get one more lap in and beat the record.”

In the lead-up to a race, Sergeant Garlick ran up to 250km a week, starting at 4am before work and getting a few kilometres in at lunch, and while it is tough, he encouraged people to test their limits.

“Any type of sport that would push yourself, you find a lot of satisfaction in the rewarding feeling of doing something that you think you couldn't do,” he said.