BackyardPace manages every loop, recovery window and start time from your Apple Watch — so you can stay focused on the only thing that matters: the next lap.
Designed for Apple Watch. Built for Backyard Ultra runners.
Every hour starts on the hour.
Finish the loop, recover, and go again.
Miss the bell and you're out.
The hard part isn't the running.
It's the maths. The clock-watching. The nutrition reminders. The fatigue creep. The 3am decision-making. The constant mental overhead of managing a race format that punishes every lapse in focus.
How much time have I really got?
BackyardPace removes that mental load.
Your race, managed from your wrist.
Enter your race start time and lap duration on the phone. BackyardPace sends the schedule to your Apple Watch and takes over from there.
The watch becomes the race engine. Lap timing, recovery countdown, heart rate and GPS — all running on your wrist, independent of your phone.
This matters because race-day reliability matters. Once the gun fires, the watch carries everything. Your phone can stay charging in the tent.
What it does
Countdowns are built around the Backyard Ultra format. The watch knows exactly when the next lap begins — and it will tell you before you have to ask.
Finish a lap and see exactly how much time you have before the next one begins. Not an estimate. The exact number, derived from your scheduled start time.
The Apple Watch runs the race from the moment it starts. Less to carry, fewer failure points, and no dependence on having your phone in your hand at the wrong moment.
Heart rate tracked continuously on the wrist during every lap and recovery window. Know your effort level as the hours stack up.
GPS route, heart rate and full workout data saved automatically to Apple Health and Apple Fitness. Your race on record, lap by lap.
Compare current lap time against your completed-lap average and see whether you're gaining or losing time against the field.
Coming soonThe app is designed around lap after lap after lap. Not a single start-to-finish run. Every feature exists because the format demands it.
Your race uploads directly to Strava after you finish — no third-party apps, no workarounds. Core feature, included in the one-time purchase.
How it works
Enter your scheduled start time and lap duration. That's it. BackyardPace sends the race schedule to the watch and you're done with the phone.
The lap begins exactly on schedule. No manual start. The timing is derived from absolute time, not a countdown you can accidentally pause.
Lap time, time remaining in the hour, heart rate. A clean screen that keeps you informed without demanding attention.
BackyardPace switches automatically to the recovery view. Your window is on screen. Rest, eat, move — the next countdown is already running.
The next lap begins automatically. You leave. The watch tracks. This is how it runs for as long as you can keep going.
Watch-first design
Your phone is useful before and after the race. During it, it should not be the thing keeping the clock alive.
BackyardPace is designed so the Apple Watch carries the race once the start time is set. Fewer distractions, fewer failure points, and less dependence on having your phone in your hand at the exact wrong moment.
Not another running tracker
Garmin, Strava and Apple Fitness are brilliant at recording runs. BackyardPace is built for the race itself — the hourly starts, the recovery windows, the last-runner-standing structure that no general running app knows how to handle.
| Apple Workout | Garmin | Strava | BackyardPace | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Records a run | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Backyard Ultra lap structure | — | Limited / manual | — | ✓ |
| Recovery countdown per lap | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Hourly start logic | — | — | — | ✓ |
| Watch-first race execution | Partial | Device-dependent | — | ✓ |
| Built for last-runner-standing events | — | — | — | ✓ |
Built by a Backyard Ultra runner
BackyardPace was built from first-hand experience of the format: long hours, repeated starts, mental fatigue, recovery pressure and the constant need to solve one lap at a time.
How much time do I have?
Am I slowing?
When do I need to leave?
Can I keep my phone away and just run?
These aren't hypothetical product features. They're questions every Backyard runner asks at some point during a race. BackyardPace is the attempt to answer them clearly, reliably, and without adding cognitive load to an event that already demands everything you have.
This is not a generic run tracker with a timer bolted on. It is a tool built for the specific demands of Backyard Ultras.
Pricing
No subscription. No locked core functionality.
Launch price: US$19.99. Once the product matures, this will move to US$24.99. No subscription. No locked core functionality. Ever.
Ready?
Join the waitlist and be first to test BackyardPace when the beta opens.
We'll reach out when the beta opens. One lap at a time.
Built for Apple Watch. Designed for Backyard Ultra runners.