Vegan Harvey Lewis Runs 462 Miles at Big's Backyard Ultra Despite Breaking Two Ribs

Vegan ultrarunner Harvey Lewis has run 462 miles in 111 hours at Big Dog's Backyard Ultra in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, a personal best and good for third place. He ran the last 12 laps, roughly 50 miles, with two broken ribs, Plant Based News reports.

Big's is the original backyard ultra. Runners complete a 4.167-mile loop every hour, on the hour, until only one is left standing, which works out at 100 miles a day. Around lap 99, more than 400 miles in, Lewis fell. He got up and kept going for another 12 hours, and only found out later that he had broken two ribs.

Phil Gore won with 114 laps and 475 miles, and Ivo Steyaert was second with 113, both beating the old course record. Lewis's 111 laps are reported as a US national record and the joint sixth-best result ever in the format. Britain's Sarah Perry was the top woman with 95 laps, a new women's backyard ultra record, iRunFar reports.

Lewis, 49, teaches at a performing arts high school in Cincinnati when he isn't running for five days straight. He has been vegetarian for nearly 30 years and vegan for almost a decade, and his race food was entirely plant-based:

My favorite vegan fuel during the race were Abe's vegan muffins, chips and hummus, many different soups from lentil to black bean, pad thai, vegan mashed potatoes mixed with a bit of vegetable broth, vegan mac and cheez, and much more. All vegan fueled!

He went vegan for good in 2016 and has noticed the difference. "I wasn't expecting anything dramatic to occur but I have had some really positive physical results too," he told Great Vegan Athletes.

This is the race Lewis has made his own. He won it in 2021 with a world-record 85 laps and again in 2023 with 108 laps and 450 miles, and he has also won Badwater 135 twice. Vegan endurance runners are everywhere now, from Damian Hall winning the Winter Spine Race to Robbie Balenger running across America.

462 miles, two broken ribs, zero meat. Powered by plants.