MilesFor Champions

Run with a bigger purpose

Giving everyone the opportunity to experience what sports can do.

Ryan Latham is running 100 miles to help give 200 Special Olympics Champions a season of sports.

Sponsor a Champion Join The Backyard Ultra
$24,000Our goal
200Champions
$120One athlete's season
100Miles in 24 hours

The big challenge · February 27–28, 2027

The Backyard Ultra

“I’m running 100 miles, but I don’t want to do it alone. Come run with me!”

A backyard ultra is simple: run a 4.167-mile loop every hour, on the hour. Do that for 24 hours and you’ve covered 100 miles.

Anyone can join! You don’t have to be an ultrarunner. Pick your challenge: run 100 miles solo, build a relay team, or run a few loops.
  • When: Feb. 27 @ 1 - Feb. 28 @ 1
  • Where: Private property about 3 miles east of Lake Arcadia, Oklahoma City
  • Loop: 4.167 miles, starting every hour
Join the Run

Get involved

Join The Backyard Ultra

There are three ways to be part of it. Every one of them matters.

01

100 Miles Solo

Go the full distance. One 4.167-mile loop every hour, on the hour, for 24 hours.

Join the Run
02

Relay Team

Build a team and split the loops. Together, your team covers all 100 miles.

Join the Run
03

Solo Loops

Run one loop, five loops, or as many as you want. Every mile is a mile for the Champions.

Join the Run

Our goal

$24,000

To help give 200 Special Olympics Champions a season of sports.

$120×200 Champions=$24,000

The road to Boston

Four races. One finish line.

Miles For Champions is bigger than one run. Follow the journey from Dallas to Boston — each race moves us closer to 200 Champions.

  1. Dec 2026

    Dallas

    Half Marathon · 13.1 mi
    $3,000 25 Champions
  2. Jan 2027

    Houston

    Marathon · 26.2 mi
    $6,000 50 Champions
  3. Feb 2027

    Backyard Ultra

    100 miles · 24 hours
    $18,000 150 Champions
  4. Apr 2027

    Boston

    Marathon · 26.2 mi
    $24,000 200 Champions

Why I run

Sports changed my life. Now I’m using my miles to help change someone else’s.

Growing up with dyslexia, school was always a fight. But on the field, I found confidence, teammates who became lifelong friends, and the discipline that still shapes my days.

Special Olympics calls its athletes Champions — and every one of them deserves that same chance to discover what sports can do. Qualifying for Boston was about proving something to myself. This is about using what I’ve been given for someone else.

— Ryan Latham

Join Miles For Champions

Run. Give. Share. Help give 200 Champions a season of sports.

Donate Run a loop