[Editor’s Note: This month’s Community Voices article was written by iRunFar reader and runner, Seth Luxenberg, who worked for the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, and has run the Backyard Ultra Abidjan twice.]
When Marius Kouakou of Côte d’Ivoire ran 85 “yards” or laps at the 2025 Ultra Tour du Lac de Monteux backyard ultra, he reset his African record — which he previously set at the What’s Your Limit backyard ultra in Beauraing, Belgium, in April 2025 — by 29 laps. It was a massive step up that earned him the runner-up, or “assist” position at the race. At the same Belgian race, another Ivoirian, Adele Al Khalil, set the women’s African record with 37 laps. While Africa is known for producing world-class runners in a variety of disciplines, these Ivoirian stars are among the first to dive deeply into the backyard ultra format, and with great success. The small West African country is known for its heat and high humidity, and running there is not for the faint of heart.
Marius Kouakou (left) and Adele Al Khalil (right) running at the 2025 What’s Your Limit backyard ultra. All photos courtesy of Seth Luxenberg.
The backyard ultra format, which is relatively new in the world of running, involves repeating a 4.167-mile (6.70 kilometers) lap every hour. Runners must be ready to start their next loop at the start of each hour, and the winner is crowned after they complete one more lap after everyone else has stopped running, whether by choice or because they miss the one-hour cut-off. The race format was started by Gary Cantrell, aka Laz, the race director of the Barkley Marathons, in 2011 in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. In recent years, backyard ultras have become increasingly popular as an easier and less intimidating way for people to run ultra distances when compared to more traditional race formats. It’s also much easier to create and host the events, as race directors don’t have to mark out a whole ultra course, just a single lap. The ease of the format makes it accessible to those who don’t live in regions with many racing opportunities, and the growing Côte d’Ivoire trail community has embraced the racing style.
The emergence of backyard ultras in Côte d’Ivoire came from a chance meeting between Frenchman Alain Jolivet and Laz at the 2022 Capital Backyard Ultra in Washington, D.C. They discussed the idea of Alain organizing an event in Côte d’Ivoire, where Alain had been living since 2021. When he returned home, Alain got to work with Isabelle Diomandé-Konaté, an Ivoirian runner, to organize the country’s first backyard ultra.
Runners line up in the pen at the 2024 Backyard Ultra Abidjan.
The first Backyard Ultra Abidjan was held in 2023 in Banco National Park, a 34-square-kilometer area of dense tropical forests, a favorite spot for many local trail runners. The urban tropical forest offers a chance to escape the busy city for a quiet run. Palm trees provide shade from the tropical sun, and the area overlooks the Ébrié lagoon. In 2023, over 100 runners from 19 nationalities participated in the backyard ultra. While neither Marius or Adele ran that year — though Marius had intended to run — the event was the start of the sport in the small West African country.
Marius Kouakou: A Student of the Sport
Marius grew up in Gagnoa, a small city in southwestern Côte d’Ivoire’s cocoa-growing region. He ran track in high school, competing in the 100- and 200-meter events. He eventually moved to Port-Bouët, a working-class suburb of Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire’s largest city. He worked at a car dealership, and in order to save money on transportation, he would run seven kilometers to and from work rather than take the bus. He felt himself getting faster and entered a half marathon in 2016 in Abidjan. While he initially wanted to run the full marathon, he couldn’t afford good shoes, so he opted for the half marathon instead. He says that when he finished in 10th place, he realized he could succeed as a runner. Marius continued to rack up impressive performances, even without being able to afford good shoes, and says he finished eighth in Abidjan’s half marathon in 2017 and then won the half marathon in his hometown of Gagnoa in 2019.
Marius’s entrance into the backyard ultra racing scene didn’t start smoothly. His boss, who was active in the Abidjan running community, paid his registration fee for the 2023 Backyard Ultra Abidjan. However, Marius showed up late and wasn’t allowed to compete. Undeterred, he returned for the second edition in 2024. This time, he arrived early and ready to compete. He won with 19 laps.
Marius Kouakou heads out on another lap at the 2024 Backyard Ultra Abidjan.
Alain, one of the event organizers, immediately saw Marius’s talent. Alain, who had experience competing at events like UTMB and Diagonale des Fous, recognized Marius as someone who had never trained properly but had a lot of potential, and Alain wanted to help.
Alain began coaching Marius for the 2025 Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra in Tennessee. The event would serve as the individual world championships for the backyard ultra racing format. Through Alain, Marius learned about strength training, interval training, and proper nutrition. Marius was soon calling Alain “El Professeur.” Marius had a naturally smooth running style and incredible endurance. He would regularly complete 42-kilometer (26.2 miles) runs in under three hours and had a training volume of 300 kilometers (186 miles) on some weeks. He also trained for the specifics of the backyard style, such as taking five-minute naps and eating before, during, and after long runs.
Marius’s performance improved almost immediately, and in October 2024, he earned a spot for the 2025 Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra by winning the Côte d’Ivoire backyard national championships with 28 laps.
Marius Kouakou taking in fuel on his way to winning the 2024 Backyard Ultra Abidjan.
When evaluating race results in Abidjan, it’s important to keep in mind that the humidity is usually around 70% to 80%, which makes eating and drinking enough difficult. Maintaining a steady heart rate is especially challenging in these conditions. Some equate training in conditions like Abidjan to training at altitude, and once runners leave the high-humidity environment, their performances often improve dramatically.
Indeed, racing outside of Côte d’Ivoire, Marius thrived. In April 2025, at his first big international test, the What’s Your Limit backyard ultra in Belgium, he ran 56 laps, finishing second as the “assist” and setting a new African record.
Although Marius was ready to race at Big’s, the individual world championships, he wasn’t able to obtain a visa to race in the U.S. Undeterred, he pivoted to the Ultra Tour du Lac de Monteux in France as an alternative test in October. Again, he exceeded his old African record by a huge margin, running 85 laps to finish second overall, behind Christophe Rouat, who set a new French backyard ultra record with 86 laps. While Marius fell short of his goal of 100 laps, he doesn’t feel like the distance is out of the question. After the race, Marius said that his overall running goal is to have the opportunity to compete with elite athletes, and he’s well on his way to achieving it.
Marius Kouakou running comfortably at the 2025 Ultra Trail Lac du Monteux.
Coming from a relatively small group of runners in Côte d’Ivoire, Marius’s performances have garnered attention. His humble style and pride in representing his country have made him a fan favorite in the Abidjan running community. After he returned from France, he received a reception from dozens of Abidjan-based runners as well as his family and friends from Port-Bouët.
One of the most vocal supporters of Marius was Adele Al Khalil.
Adele Al Khalil: Chasing Personal Limits
Africa’s other backyard ultra record holder, Adele Al Khalil, also hails from Côte d’Ivoire. Alongside Marius, she set the women’s African record by running 37 laps at the What’s Your Limit backyard ultra in Belgium in 2025.
With a background in athletics, Adele’s journey into endurance sports is deeply rooted in discipline, adaptability, and a love of challenge. From a young age, she was drawn to movement in all its forms, exploring gymnastics, snowboarding, horseback riding, and basketball during her high school years. Each discipline sharpened her physical awareness and mental resilience, laying the foundation for a lifelong pursuit of performance.
At university, while earning a bachelor’s degree in Business and a master’s degree in Management, she joined the track team and discovered the thrill of speed, the intoxicating rhythm of the breath, the burn in the legs, and the satisfaction of crossing a finish line faster than before. Track taught her structure, precision, and the art of pacing, lessons that would quietly shape her future as an endurance athlete.
Marius Kouakou (left) and Adele Al Khalil (second from right) at the 2025 What’s Your Limit backyard ultra.
But the love of trail and long-distance running came later, almost unexpectedly. What began as a way to unwind from the pressures of daily life evolved into something much deeper. The trails awakened a different kind of joy — one not bound by times or laps, but by freedom, connection, and discovery. Long-distance running became meditative journeys through nature, a dialogue between effort and serenity, struggle and wonder. In recent years, Adele has become a fixture at running events in Côte d’Ivoire, often finishing as the top female and among the top overall runners.
At her first attempt at the backyard ultra race format, the 2024 Backyard Ultra Abidjan, she completed 16 loops and knew she had the potential for more. She competed at the Côte d’Ivoire national championships in 2024 and ran 25 laps. In April 2025, alongside Marius, she traveled to Belgium for the What’s Your Limit event, ready to push her limits. She succeeded in doing so, completing 37 loops and setting a new African backyard ultra record for women.
Adele has said that she loves the backyard format, and from the race style where there is no finish line, she has learned that “the further you go, the more you realize what you are capable of, which is far beyond what you first imagined.”
Future of Backyard Ultras in Côte d’Ivoire
The 2023 Backyard Ultra Abidjan proved to be a resounding success, and the 2024 and 2025 events proved equally as popular, with the maximum number of laps run growing each year, from 16 in 2023 to 31 in 2025. The event also maintains a charitable component in order to give back to the local community. In 2023, runners completed a total of 464 loops, so event organizers planted 464 trees. For the 2024 event, runners completed a total of 692 loops, so organizers donated 692 sets of school supplies. In 2025, runners completed 900 loops, so they distributed 900 books to Ivoirian libraries.
Marius Kouakou celebrates another lap at the 2025 Ultra Trail Lac du Monteux.
One of the things that makes running in Côte d’Ivoire so unique is the diversity of participants. The country has a booming economy, serves as a hub for many businesses working in Francophone West Africa, and hosts the African Development Bank. This all attracts a large expatriate community, who generally make up the majority of participants at endurance events. Côte d’Ivoire is also the world’s leading producer of cocoa and a major producer of cashews, palm oil, plantains, and other crops. The paths through and between these agricultural areas provide a network of routes for runners to use.
Under the leadership of Alain, the Backyard Ultra Abidjan seems to be a reliable fixture in Côte d’Ivoire trail running, providing a launch pad for runners like Marius and Adele to compete against some of the best in the world.
Call for Comments
- What do you think about the increasing popularity of backyard ultra events around the world?
- Have you had a chance to meet Marius or Adele?
