The world of ultra running changed when Big's Backyard was introduced into the mix, and since then it's seen hundreds of different iterations of the race format take place across the world.

One of Australia's best at the format is Jessica Smith, who was the first woman in Australia to break the 275km mark in the backyard format, which involves running 6.71km on the hour every hour until you can't go anymore.

But she's so much more than her achievements in backyard ultras, Jess is a fantastic ambassador for the sport of ultra running, and like me enjoys talking about what fantastic things are happening in the sport.

You can follow all of her adventures at jess.on.the.run