Phil Gore is an ultrarunner. He actually holds the world record for the longest Backyard Ultra, a race where you run 6.7 kilometers (or 4.167 miles) every hour on the hour until only one athlete remains. Gore’s record is 119 loops, or 495.8 miles.
The entire goal of the Backyard Ultra is to run as many loops as possible. There is no finish line, just outlast your competitors. Because of this, the ability to set a world record is dependent on another athlete staying in the race long enough.
Coming a month after the success and popularity of the Last Soul Ultra, Phil Gore attempted to run 168 loops, or seven straight days of running 4.167 miles every hour on the hour for a total of 700 miles. Dubbed Project 168, the intent was to run further than anyone ever had before in this format and to raise money for sick, vulnerable and disadvantage children across Western Australia.
Phil ended up raising over $290,000 AUD, but fell short of his 168 loop goal. He still ran further than anyone ever has, completing 152 laps before pulling the plug.
However, in the weeks since Phil has had some medical issues.
Phil has been in and out of the hospital for the past two weeks dealing with a leg abscess. Doctors believed it was just a hematoma, a pooled collection of clotted or partially clotted blood that forms outside of blood vessels. Doctors believed it would heal on its own.
However, that was not the case. After continued issues, Phil went to a different doctor to get a second opinion. That doctor aspirated the abscess and found that it was infected.
So Phil had to go to the hospital and will now undergo surgery to remove the infected puss from his leg.
It’s great that Phil raised a bunch of money for kids in need, but an attempt to run 700 miles might have been a bad idea.
As for whether the 152 laps should be considered an unofficial Backyard Ultra record, Mark Dowdle, the guy who won the Last Soul Ultra last month, had some thoughts…
