Mark Dowdle Wins Last soul BYU

On the morning of 14 August, 169 runners lined up in Borneim, Germany (at a secret location near a former military base / Düsseldorf area) to begin a race that has no limit and pushes athletes to the maximum.

About the race

Ultramarathoner and content creator Kim Gottwald hosted the Last Soul Ultra’s debut event. Kim is well known in Germany, across Europe, and across the USA for his own endurance event success linked to events hosted by Nick Bare.

Know the numbers

• One lap is 6.7km (4.2 miles)

• World Record at the time (119 laps - Phil Gore at Dead Cow Gully, Australia, in June 2025)

• No course record

This years race was won by Mark Dowdle, 28 with 95 loops or 636km (395 miles)

Who is Mark Dowdle?

Dowdle has made progress in the last five years in the ultra-running community. Dowdle earned a debut BYU of 21 loops in 2021 and is now winning events, competing against competitors such as Harvey Lewis and Hendrik Boury. A recent big win by Dowdle was at the Nick Bare Go One More BYU with 73 laps (492km or 306 miles).

We are yet to see how far Dowdle can go, as in Backyard Ultra rules you are only allowed to continue for one more loop than whoever finishes second place. The assist to this race was Ello El Osrouti, an ultrarunner from Germany.

Photography credit: mark.dowdle on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/mark.dowdle/