Dead Cow Gully
& IronHikeComparisonThe world record was set on a cattle farm.
Ours climbs 595 to 604 feet every lap.
Two backyards, half a world apartWe respect Dead Cow Gully, the Queensland cattle-farm backyard where the men’s world record of 119 yards was set in 2025. It proved how far the Backyard Ultra format can go. Answer the Bell keeps the same hourly bell and asks how far you can go when every lap climbs a Mountain.
Dead Cow GullyA Backyard Ultra on the Walsh family’s 1,600-acre cattle farm near Nanango, Queensland, Australia, where Phil Gore set the men’s world record of 119 yards in 2025. Its 6.7 km (4.167 mile) loop runs past stockyards and cattle and down a sandy creek bed every hour, with free camping at the venue.
IronHike Answer the BellThe Backyard Ultra format on a Mountain: one lap every hour, on the hour, 1.25 to 1.5 miles with 595 to 604 feet up and back down, at Mohawk Mountain or on the Amicalola Falls staircase, 1,208 stairs every lap. Answer the Bell - Basic runs 24 hours (28,992 stairs at Amicalola) and Answer the Bell - Full runs 84 (101,472 stairs). Open registration. Veteran-owned and operated.
The honest assessmentIronHike is better on 7, Dead Cow Gully on 3, and 9 are a tie. Dead Cow Gully wins on distance, a stocked aid station and the world record. IronHike wins on the Mountain: real vertical every lap, the scenery, a pace runners and hikers can both make, and a finish line every Athlete can earn, three times a year.
Dead Cow Gully & Answer the BellLegend: ✓ Better = Tie ✓ Good – Not offeredDead Cow Gully
Backyard Ultra
Nanango, QLD - AustraliaIronHike
Answer the Bell - Basic & Full
All venues - USADistance ✓ 6.7 km (4.167 miles) a lap, 100 miles every 24 hours ✓ 1.25 to 1.5 miles a lap, 30 to 36 miles in 24 hours Vertical Elevation ✓ No published climb; the first 2 km is flat farm road, then a 750-metre (about half a mile) sandy creek bed ✓ 595 to 604 feet every lap: 14,280 to 14,496 feet per 24 hours Duration = No set end. Last one standing. = 24 or 84 hours Location = A cattle property 11 km (about 7 miles) north of Nanango, Queensland, Australia = Mohawk Mountain, Cornwall, Connecticut and Amicalola Falls, Dawsonville, Georgia Scenery ✓ Stockyards, grassland, gullies and gum trees on a Queensland cattle farm ✓ The Old Appalachian Trail route in the Litchfield Hills at Mohawk; Amicalola Falls, one of the tallest cascading waterfalls in the eastern US Getting There ✓ About 2.5 hours from Brisbane ✓ Mohawk is about 1 hour from Hartford; Amicalola Falls is about 1 hour 15 minutes north of Atlanta Dates ✓ Once a year, around May or June ✓ 3 Series a year: spring and fall at Mohawk, December at Amicalola Falls Lap Definition = 6.7 km (4.167 miles) every hour past stockyards, gullies and gum trees = 1.25 to 1.5 miles every hour, up & down the Mountain Pace to Make the Bell ✓ About 14:24 per mile, a running pace ✓ 40 to 48 minutes per mile: run or power-hike Registration = Register online = Register online Price Range = Not published online; tickets sold through Eventzilla = Answer the Bell - Basic $360, Full $1,260 Alumni Discount – None listed ✓ Generous Camping = Free campsites at the venue; crew share your site = Tent space for you and up to 6 spectators Lodging = Caravan parks, motels and Airbnb in Nanango = Tent space included, plus discounted rooms at the Lodge at Amicalola Falls Crew = Welcome, sharing the runner’s campsite = Cadre and up to 6 spectators at Base Camp Facilities = Toilets, drinking water and a small headlamp and phone charging station = Base Camp support station with hot water, coffee, tea and hot chocolate Meals and Snacks Included ✓ Aid stations with water, electrolytes, sunscreen, Coke, fruit, lollies and chips ✓ Snacks and hot drinks. Bring your own meals. World Record ✓ Men’s world record: 119 yards, Phil Gore, 2025 ✓ None. Not a race. You vs the clock. Finishers ✓ Last one standing wins ✓ Everyone who answers every bell wins and earns a finisher medal and hat Scorecard= Tied on 9 of 19 comparisonsDead Cow Gully✓ Better = 3✓ Good = 6– Not offered = 1Answer the Bell✓ Better = 7✓ Good = 3– Not offered = 0We built this comparison from each organizer’s public information, with real respect for every event on it. Scenery and the Better / Tie / Good marks are our own honest judgment, and “Not offered” means not offered to the best of our knowledge. Details change, so check with the organizer before you register, and if you spot something we should update, tell us. We’ll gladly fix it. IronHike is not affiliated with or endorsed by any event on this page. Last checked October 2026.
See Answer the Bell 🔔💬 “I want to be clear: I did not run a single step. I power-hiked every lap. Nobody cared. Nobody judged. I still rang that bell at midnight.”
— Denise · IronHike Kuwohi Finisher
▲ ▲ ▲We want to see you on our Mountain too!Dead Cow Gully proved how far the Backyard Ultra format can go: 119 hours. Answer the Bell asks how far you can go when every one of those hours climbs a Mountain.
Ran a backyard Down Under, or dreaming of one? Add Answer the Bell to your season. No passport needed.
It’s you versus the whole mountain (up and down) and you against who you were yesterday.
Current EventsPick your Series 🎯12 Hours⛰️ Mohawk: 12 laps · 15 miles · 7,140’🌊 Amicalola Falls: 11 laps · 16.5 miles · 6,644’ · 13,288 stairsSee Kuwohi24 Hours⛰️ Mohawk: 23 laps · 28.75 miles · 13,685’🌊 Amicalola Falls: 22 laps · 33 miles · 13,288’ · 26,576 stairsSee Double Kuwohi24 Hours⛰️ Mohawk: 24 laps · 30 miles · 14,280’🌊 Amicalola Falls: 24 laps · 36 miles · 14,496’ · 28,992 stairsSee Answer the Bell - Basic48 Hours⛰️ Mohawk: 35 laps · 43.75 miles · 20,825’🌊 Amicalola Falls: 34 laps · 51 miles · 20,536’ · 41,072 stairsSee Denali72 Hours⛰️ Mohawk: 49 laps · 61.25 miles · 29,155’🌊 Amicalola Falls: 49 laps · 73.5 miles · 29,596’ · 59,192 stairsSee Everest84 Hours⛰️ Mohawk: 84 laps · 105 miles · 49,980’🌊 Amicalola Falls: 84 laps · 126 miles · 50,736’ · 101,472 stairsSee Answer the Bell - Full84 Hours · Top 4 Hardest Ultra Events in the World⛰️ Mohawk: 122 laps · 152.5 miles · 72,590’🌊 Amicalola Falls: 120 laps · 180 miles · 72,480’ · 144,960 stairsSee Olympus Mons Ultra💬 “I signed up because I needed something that would hurt enough to mean something. I am trekking every lap for my brother who came home from Iraq a different person. The bell is going to ring. I am going to answer it.”
— Mike · IronHike Mountain Athlete
❓ Get your questions answered here.
Training, gear, tenting, night laps, what to expect at Mohawk and Amicalola, and plenty more. Or ask your own.
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