Last Soul Ultra: special stories at the Backyard Ultra
6,706 kilometres. One hour of time. And then everything starts all over again. At the Last Soul Ultra, from 8 to 10 August 2026, a competition awaits where, at some point, it's no longer about speed, but about who can still stand at the starting line.
For us, the Backyard Ultra will be a special weekend for several reasons. We, Jasper and Julian, will be on site to accompany Hubert Karl and produce a small, exclusive athleteXhub documentary about him. At the same time, other athletes from the aXh community will be at the starting line, with stories behind their participation that go far beyond the kilometres run.
What is the Last Soul Ultra?
The Last Soul Ultra, or LSU for short, is a Backyard Ultra. The format follows a simple yet uncompromising principle: every full hour, a new round starts over 6,706 kilometres. Those who complete the course within the hour can use the remaining time until the next start to eat, drink, change clothes, or simply put their legs up for a few minutes.
Punctually at the next full hour, all remaining participants must be back at the starting line. Anyone who is not back on time or does not start the next round is eliminated.
There is no classic finish line after a fixed distance. Theoretically, a Backyard Ultra can continue until only one athlete is left. That's what makes the format so special. Speed alone is not enough. What matters is endurance, strategy, nutrition, regeneration, and eventually, the mind.
With Hubert Karl back at the Last Soul Ultra
For us, one athlete will be the focus at the Last Soul Ultra: Hubert Karl. The team from Brazil, together with Julian Kopf, is back, and we will accompany Hubert over the weekend as a support team.
At the same time, a small, exclusive documentary for athleteXhub will be created. Not as a classic event film, but as a close look at what such a race does to an athlete.
How does Hubert experience the individual rounds?
How does his body change over the hours?
What happens during the breaks?
And what drives someone to get up and run again after 6,706 kilometres?
Hubert, in particular, brings a story and experience in endurance sports that goes far beyond this one weekend. At the LSU, we want to document not only kilometres but also the moments in between.
Josia runs for mental health in competitive sports
Another story we will follow at the Last Soul Ultra is that of Josia, who can be found on Instagram as @josiasleben.
athleteXhub has supported Josia in the preparation phase with sponsor search. However, not to earn money with the Backyard Ultra itself. The race will become a fundraising campaign for mental health in competitive sports: all revenue generated by Josia through sponsors around the project will be donated to the Robert Enke Foundation.
For Josia, this is not the first running project this year with a focus on mental health. In May, he ran 1,016 kilometres from Nice to Barcelona under the name "finding p[e]ace". The project was all about suicide prevention. Almost 10,000 euros in donations were collected, which benefited the YAM programme. More about this past project can be found here.
With his participation in the Last Soul Ultra, Josia is continuing this commitment. Again, he is combining a sporting challenge with a topic that is personally important to him. Instead of just focusing on his own performance, he is using the attention around his project to talk about mental health in competitive sports and, at the same time, enable concrete support.
Why we are on site at the Last Soul Ultra
The main reason for our trip is clear: we are accompanying Hubert and producing the documentary about his weekend at the LSU.
At the same time, events like the Last Soul Ultra are one of the places where athleteXhub happens outside of the screen. Here, we meet athletes from the platform in person, get to know new people from the endurance sports scene, and have conversations with athletes, organisers, companies, and other people from the scene.
Many contacts and ideas are not created in a planned call, but somewhere between the starting area, the feeding station, and the next round.
It's especially nice that at the LSU, other athletes who are part of athleteXhub will also be at the starting line. In addition to Josia, this includes, for example, Johannes Hein, who has secured a starting spot with a wildcard. So, the weekend will also be an opportunity for us to meet people from the platform in person and experience their races on site.
We'll take you behind the scenes
For us, the days at the Last Soul Ultra will be a mix of support, camera, conversations, and probably very little sleep.
We are excited to see how the weekend turns out: whether Hubert perhaps even surpasses the 240 kilometres of his Brazil 135, which we accompanied in the documentary "Last Hurrah". More about the project and the premiere of "Last Hurrah" can also be found on our journal. And of course, we are excited to see how many rounds Josia runs, how much attention he generates for his fundraising campaign, and what other stories the LSU has in store for us.
How far it will go in the end, no one knows in advance. And that's exactly what makes a Backyard Ultra.
Here you can find live information about the Last Soul Ultra and more insights behind the scenes.
