Kelowna man named Canadian backyard ultra national champ after running nearly 550 km over 82 hours

Kelowna's Michael Serani has been named Canada's backyard ultra national champion after logging a total of 549.8 kilometres over 82 hours.

The race in Sicamous, B.C., was one of several taking place simultaneously around the world as part of the Backyard Ultra World Team Championship, where runners see which team can log the most kilometres.

Backyard ultra races have no finish line. Instead, athletes must run a 6.7-kilometre loop, known as a "yard," every hour on the hour until they can't continue.

Serani was among the 15 runners who laced up to run for Canada on Saturday against more than 60 other national teams. 

Serani took the Canadian title by completing one more lap than Ontario's Michael Rouleau, who completed 543 kilometres.

Canadian runners were part of the world championship event, which sees national teams receive a point every time one of their runners completes a 6.7-kilometre yard. Canada finished ninth in the team competition.

Both Michael Serani and Michael Rouleau ran for three and a half days at the Backyard Ultra World Team Championship. (Vanessa Garrison)

"Michael [Serani] is an amazing athlete, for one. But more on top of that, he's an amazing person. Just so positive," said Barry Nakahara, one of Serani's crew members at the race.

"He's easygoing, but there's determination in him."

Crews at backyard ultras operate similarly to a Formula One pit crew, if F1 cars were fuelled by sugar. 

Crews need to ensure their runner is eating and drinking, and work to mitigate a litany of always developing issues, like chafing and blisters.

They have the time from when the runner completes the 6.7 kilometres to when the whistle blows at the top of the hour — signalling the start of another loop — to manage all