Phil Gore Completes 152 Hours in Unofficial Backyard Ultra Record

Australian endurance runner Phil Gore completed 152 consecutive hours of running in Perth, setting what The Guardian reported as an unofficial record for the longest Backyard Ultra. The 40-year-old finished a 6.71-kilometre lap at the start of every hour for six days and eight hours before stopping during his attempt at lap 153.

Watch the highlights: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onLjqKqup6U

Gore's Project 168 was designed as a personal test beyond the standard race format. Backyard Ultra events require competitors to complete one 6.71-kilometre circuit every hour, with any remaining minutes available for rest, food or equipment changes. A runner who fails to finish within the hour is eliminated, and a conventional event ends when only one athlete remains.

The Australian entered the project after setting a 119-hour world record at Dead Cow Gully in 2025. He had completed 16 Backyard Ultra events and won 14, according to The Guardian. His new goal was to continue for a full week, or 168 hourly laps, without the usual requirement to stop after the final rival dropped out.

Gore narrowly completed lap 152 in 58 minutes, his slowest successful circuit. He began the next lap two minutes later at 4 p.m. on the seventh day, but stopped about 25 minutes into it after covering less than 1,800 metres. At 6.71 kilometres per completed lap, the 152 successful circuits amounted to 1,019.92 kilometres.

Rest was compressed into short periods between laps. The Guardian reported that Gore usually returned from a circuit with roughly 15 minutes available for sleeping, eating, toilet breaks, massages and changing equipment. His food included sweets and custard pouches as well as cereal, meat pies, chicken curry with rice and a cheeseburger. A small group of friends and family supported him throughout the attempt in the Perth suburb of Forrestdale.

The project was streamed live and raised $285,000 for Telethon, which supports medical research and health services for children in Western Australia. Gore said afterward that the effort had taken more out of him than previous events and that he had used crutches for two days. He also said he had consulted his doctor and physiotherapist and had a plan aimed at addressing what went wrong before another race.