Project NOMAD: A Weekend at the Backyard Ultra World Championships
PROJECT NOMAD
Location: Illawarra Mountain Range, NSW
Date: Saturday, October 17th, 2026
Time: 2300 AEDT
Every great story has three vital elements: someone who wants something, something standing in their way, and a reason we care.
I want to build Natural ArtForm into something legendary, but with $0 marketing budget, I must create my own luck. In the Special Forces world I was taught many things but one simple formula and one short mantra come to mind when it comes to luck:
Luck = Preparation + Opportunity
and
Fortune Favors the Prepared
In business and in life, you sometimes have to work extremely hard, with no guaranteed payoff, for longer than you expect until one day you’re blessed with an opportunity at exactly the right time, in exactly the right place.
For me, that was in the Illawarra Mountain Range, in NSW at the Backyard Ultra World Championship.
Our small Natural ArtForm team had been working incredibly hard on the simultaneous launch of two products in the USA and Australia — NOMAD Legacy and NOMAD Ultra — and the stars aligned when we were given the opportunity to provide any form of support we thought fitting to help the Australian National Team take on 70+ countries around the world in this legendary last man standing event.
If you’ve read my previous blog posts introducing Ezra Dingo, the legendary 3-time Backyard Ultra Last Man Standing, and our coverage of Red’s Backyard Ultra (BYU), then you’ll know exactly how we got here. We were again at Red’s BYU, but this time in support of the 15 runners from across Australia who were geared up to run 6.706km every hour, on the hour, until only one runner remained.
In each of the race tents, amongst the race gear, food, hydration packs, energy gels, and supplements, was placed the first run of our newly renamed topical body rub, NOMAD Ultra.
A few of the runners already had experience with our cream during several ultra distance events, including Darrel Tollet and the Mind Over Miles Club when they ran from the Sydney Opera House to the Wollongong Lighthouse — over a 100km route.
Both Darryl and Ezra were 'crewing' for individual runners by facilitating their hydration, refuel, rest, and clothing changes in between laps during the race, as well as physically applying NOMAD Ultra to their feet, legs and even arms.
The purpose: give the runners as much topical magnesium as they can, in a form with the fastest absorption possible, so the muscles can use it to optimize function, buffer lactic acid, and give the runners the tactical advantage they need to stay in the fight, longer. And it worked.
You have to remember, these runners are all equipped to run over 400-500kms in a single event, but no matter what you do, the road and the hammering of the limbs into the earth will wear out even the most durable and seasoned athlete.
So visually, they appear to be the same for at least the first 48 hours: pace is similar, the look on their face, demeanor, focus, intensity, all carefully controlled, dialed specifically to maximize time, exertion, fuel, and rest.
As the runners began to voluntarily drop out of the race, one at a time, I had to know — were they using the cream?
“John-o is out.”
“Man, that’s tough, he’s a legend, but something must have happened. What was it?”
“I don’t know man, his legs were cramping up fairly early on, and there were other things, likely mostly physical, but who knows.”
“Was he using NOMAD?”
“No.”
“Copy that. How is Brandon going? He’s using it right?”
“You know it, Brandon is hurting but solid. He’s definitely keeping NOMAD on the table. Darryl is helping him put it on right now.”
“Legend. Ok, keep me informed, give my best to the other runners.”
“Will do."“Awesome. They’ve got a big lead over the American team. You nervous?”
“Not yet. But the Americans are tough.”
“I get it. We watched a lot of Rambo growing up. All you guys had was Kath and Kim.”
“Haha, f***k you. We gave you Crocodile Dundee, and this is how you repay us?”
“Yeah, yeah. We let Russell Crowe be The Gladiator, so we’re even.”
And so they went, hour by hour. The earliest voluntary withdrawals confirmed Non-NOMAD users. Which is fair. You never want to use something new during a race. Only go with what you already trust.
But every test needs a control group, so I just recorded that data point and watched. Every Australian runner that exceeded the 72-hour mark all went into uncharted territory. Brandon Lee-Grech (The Crow) set his personal best (PB) at 73 yards.
In the end, the Americans outlasted the Aussies, and the Belgians outlasted everyone else, with Merijn Geerts setting a new world record running 124 yards or 831km. Unbelievable.
I was so grateful for the opportunity to be at the legendary championship race. I'd like to personally thank Red Barnett, the race director hosting the event. For those that know us and our worldview, Red is right there with us. She’s an amazing human and has created with her team of heart led volunteers a family friendly, caring and enduring environment.
Well done everyone!
Keeping it Natural AF,
Isaac ✌🏼