Paradise’s Ultra Marathon means drizzle, cold, lack of sleep

By Mark Squibb

Paradise Park and the trail around Octagon Pond was the site of a grueling test of endurance May 24 and 25 as runners from across the province, and some from abroad, pushed themselves to their limits in the 2025 Paradise Backyard Ultra-Marathon.
In cold and drizzly weather, competitors ran a 6.7 kilometre lap (or loop) every hour on the hour in a ‘last person standing’ style competition. Competitors were eliminated if they did not complete a lap in the assigned time, or they could choose to drop out when they reached their limit.
Organizers say this year’s event was even bigger and better than the inaugural 2024 event.
“A lot of people fell in love with the environment we created in Paradise Park, which was a per-fect venue for this event,” said co-organizer Mark Didham. “And people who watched last year wanted to be a part of it this year.
Some 193 people competed in the event, compared to the 133 who ran it in last year’s inaugural race.
When registration opened for the 2025 event, organisers anticipated the event would sell out in about two hours, as the 2024 event had sold out in about six hours.
Instead, the event was sold out in under two minutes.
“We were blown away by the reception,” said Didham, who noted that in addition to the 215 folks who registered, over 100 were added to a wait list.
Didham said some people sign up as a means of challenging themselves to see how many laps they can complete, and that while it may sound grueling, you don’t have to be an experienced runner to participate.
“We’ve had people come out and complete one loop, we’ve had people complete two loops,” said Didham. “Last year the largest drop we had from one loop to another was after the sixth hour. This year it was after the tenth hour. We were probably into lap 26 before we had a lap go by with no one dropping out.”
Didham said that because of the nature of the event, endurance and energy conservation are prized over speed. Because of this, competitors race alongside other competitors they would not during a traditional race, and the event is as much a social occasion as an athletic one.
This year’s event kicked off at 9 a.m. Saturday morning. On Sunday night, 37 hours and 248 kilometres later, Peter Thompson of St. John’s was declared the winner. Thompson also won the inaugural event in 2024.
Paradise councillor Patrick Martin brought greetings on behalf of council at the event Saturday morning and ran a lap himself.
“I had only planned to run one lap, and I was the only person to only run one lap,” quipped Martin, who, along with other members of council, applauded the success of the event during last week’s public council meeting.
Martin said the event is beginning to catch the attention of the international running community.
“If anyone has never experienced it, it’s a phenomenal event to watch,” said Martin, who made it a point to catch the end of the race. “I think this is a worldclass event.”
The Town of Paradise, following the success of the 2024 event, committed to allowing the group access to the Park to host the event for four more years.
“So, it’s safe to say that this event will happen this time next year,” said Didham, who extended thanks to the many volunteers and sponsors who helped make it a success.