Phil Gore runs 1,019.92km in backyard ultra
Australian ultrarunner Phil Gore ran 1,019.92km in 152 consecutive hourly laps, breaking his own world record. He raised over $267,000 for charity.
Australian ultrarunner Phil Gore ran 1,019.92 kilometers in a solo backyard ultra attempt, stopping after 152 laps. The effort, which lasted six days and eight hours, surpassed his own world record but fell 16 laps short of his week-long goal, according to a report by Runner's Tribe.
Gore began his attempt, dubbed Project 168, at 8am AWST on Sunday, August 23, at Alfred Skeet Reserve in Forrestdale, Perth. The format required him to complete one 6.71km lap at the start of every hour for 168 hours. He finished his final complete lap at 4pm on Saturday, August 29, in 58:01 minutes, leaving less than two minutes before the next start. He began a 153rd lap but collapsed, ending the attempt.
The event was designed to test the limits of the backyard ultra format, which traditionally ends when only one runner remains. Gore, a two-time world record holder in the discipline, wanted to explore his personal ceiling without the constraint of competition.
The Running and Rest Architecture
Backyard ultra performance hinges on managing rest within the hour. Gore employed a precise sleep strategy, running slower daytime laps averaging 48:49 to conserve energy and faster nighttime laps averaging 42:58 to create longer rest windows. Across the entire attempt, he spent approximately 35.4 hours off the course, taken in slices no longer than 23 minutes.
His pacing followed a distinct four-hour cycle, with slower laps at 6pm, 10pm, 2am, and 6am corresponding to scheduled crew and medical checks. His fastest lap was 37:17, starting at midnight on Wednesday. A key indicator of his decline was the 7am lap on Saturday, which took 48:29, nearly nine minutes slower than his previous 7am efforts.
The Final Breakdown
Gore's rhythm began to falter on Friday night. His laps from 7pm through 11pm were the slowest he had run at those hours all week, eroding his crucial rest windows. He briefly recovered after midnight, running his quickest 2am lap of the attempt at 47:18. However, his pace deteriorated again from 6am Saturday onward.
His final eight completed laps were significantly slower, culminating in the 58:01 effort. UltraRunning Magazine reported that Gore collapsed during his 153rd yard. His support team has not publicly detailed the specific cause of the stoppage.
Record Status and Context
The 152-lap distance will not be ratified as an official backyard ultra world record. The format requires a competitive race where the last runner completes one final solo lap after outlasting all others. Gore's existing ratified record is 119 laps, set at Dead Cow Gully in June 2025.
The current ratified record landscape is clarified in the table below.
| Record Holder | Laps | Event | Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Phil Gore (Men) | 119 | Dead Cow Gully | 2025 |
| Sarah Perry (Women) | 95 | Big's Backyard Ultra | 2025 |
For scale, legendary multiday runner Yiannis Kouros covered 1,036.800km in a six-day race, a greater distance than Gore's 152-hour total. The backyard format's mandatory stop-and-wait periods account for the difference.
Charity Fundraising Success
The primary goal of Project 168 was fundraising. Every lap raised money for Telethon 7, a Western Australian charity for children. The campaign raised A$267,667.56, with 100 percent of donations going directly to the cause. Support continued after Gore stopped, with his crew completing the remaining hourly laps as a relay to reach the 168th hour.
Phil Gore is a firefighter based in Armadale, Western Australia. His ultrarunning career began in 2019, and he has since won 14 of his 16 backyard ultra starts, earning the moniker 'King of the Backyard.' He also holds the Oceania 24-hour record of 265.653km.
