The Banker Who Quit His Job To Run A Backyard Ultra Empire

Charlie McKenzie flew from London, quit a decade in banking, and built a running events company with his brother that does everything the old blokes won't. He sits down with Alex and Troy to pull apart the backyard ultra scene, where the rules are written on the back of a fag packet and a bloke got disqualified at yard 54 because a stranger filmed herself running next to him. This is the business of the sport laid bare. Who actually makes money, why the money is in the broadcast not the tickets, and why LSU just upended the whole thing.

In this episode:
- Charlie leaving a decade in mergers and acquisitions for a career break that turned into a business
- Why the backyard ultra is a legal grey area and the rules are all down to interpretation
- The runner disqualified at yard 54 for a morale boost he never asked for
- Why the money is never in the ticket sales, it is in the broadcast and the sponsorship
- How LSU spent a fortune and basically forked the whole sport apart
- King of the Hill selling 155 tickets live off the broadcast with a cowbell
- Why most running events are dog shit and the generational gap behind the AI posters
- The Aussie starter pack for a visiting Pom, from the Bunnings snag to the balls club parmy

Timestamps:
(00:13) Flying a guest in from the UK and the zero beers on the desk
(01:00) Who is Charlie McKenzie and what is Backyard Events
(01:42) Ten years in banking and what mergers and acquisitions actually is
(04:04) The career break, 32 with no kids, and going for it now
(04:54) What Backyard Events runs and building events for the misfits
(06:38) The backyard ultra as the Wild West with no real governance
(08:30) The yard 54 disqualification for outside assistance
(11:00) Why affiliation would rip the soul out of their events
(14:23) BPN, LSU and Kim upending the whole sport
(18:17) Soul races and getting bought out without realising it
(24:36) Why there is room for every flavour of event
(26:50) Survive the loop and the drop-off format they built at a festival
(32:36) 25 percent no-shows and the money people waste not turning up
(46:49) Why the money is in the broadcast, not the tickets
(57:01) The gap between pros and amateurs and no money in running
(01:08:20) Charlie going head to head with his brother in a backyard
(01:10:16) King of the Hill risking it all and selling tickets live on stream
(01:18:17) Slamming beers on the broadcast and doing it the opposite way
(01:30:00) The Aussie starter pack, Bunnings snags and the balls club parmy
(01:40:56) A proper Melbourne crawl and working with your brother

Full episode out now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
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