Phil Gore is a Western Australian ultrarunner and Perth firefighter who holds the backyard ultra world record: 119 yards, about 798 km, set at Dead Cow Gully in Queensland in June 2025. Four months later he won Big’s Backyard Ultra, the individual world championship, in Tennessee with 114 yards. He is out of the Backyard Ultra World Team Championships starting on 17 October 2026, after leg surgery that followed his Project 168 run.
- From: Perth, Western Australia; a firefighter
- Age: 39 when he won Big’s Backyard Ultra in October 2025
- World record: 119 yards (about 798 km), Dead Cow Gully, June 2025
- World title: Big’s Backyard Ultra 2025, 114 yards (about 764 km)
- Project 168: 152 yards (about 1,019 km) solo in August 2026, raising more than $285,000 for Telethon
- Status: out of the 2026 World Team Championships after leg surgery
Why Phil Gore is missing the 2026 world team championships
After Project 168 ended, Gore’s left leg didn’t recover. He was first told he had a haematoma that would settle on its own. A second opinion found pus rather than blood, meaning an infected abscess, and he went in for surgery to clean it out in mid-September, Canadian Running reported. “This is the worst I’ve pulled up from any event that I’ve done,” he said.
The magazine said then that he was unlikely to be fit for the team championships. He isn’t: Jason Rantall, from Trafalgar,, the first reserve with a best of 67 yards, has been called into the Australian team in his place, The Gazette reported on 12 October. Here’s how to watch the 2026 World Team Championships, with the full Australian team.
It’s a big loss. Australia finished second at the last team championships in 2024, with 971 yards to Belgium’s 1,147, and Gore’s 119 is the furthest anyone has gone in an official backyard ultra.
The backyard ultra world record: 119 yards
A backyard ultra is simple and brutal: every runner starts a 6.7056 km loop, a “yard”, on the hour, every hour, until only one is left. The winner has to complete one more loop alone. There’s no finish line. Our guide explains how a backyard ultra works.
Gore set the record at Dead Cow Gully, in Queensland, in June 2025, running 119 yards, close to 800 km over almost five days. New Zealand’s Sam Harvey was the last runner left with him. Gore had broken the world record at the same event in 2023, with 102 yards. A higher mark, Dmitry Klimov’s 123 yards in Russia in June 2026, was voided by the format’s founder, Lazarus Lake, after footage reportedly showed non-competitors on the course, Marathon Handbook reported, so Gore’s 119 stands. Here’s how the backyard ultra world record has grown since 2022.
Big’s Backyard Ultra world champion
In October 2025, Gore won Big’s Backyard Ultra, the individual world championship, at Laz Lake’s farm in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. He and Belgium’s Ivo Steyaert outlasted the rest of the field, and Steyaert stopped in the 113th hour, leaving Gore to finish his 114th yard alone, according to Marathon Handbook. Steyaert is in Belgium’s team this weekend.
His wife, Gemma, runs his support crew. She is behind his nickname, “Stinky”, after telling him how he smelled at the end of Big’s, Trail Runner AU reported.
Project 168
In August 2026, Gore set out to run a yard every hour for 168 hours, a full week, alone and with no one to beat. He stopped after 152 yards, about 1,019 km in six days and eight hours, and raised more than $285,000 for Telethon. Because nobody else was racing, it doesn’t count as an official record. We covered how Project 168 ended and what that much running does to a body.
Phil Gore’s records
| Race | Result |
|---|---|
| Dead Cow Gully 2023 | 102 yards, world record at the time |
| Dead Cow Gully 2025 | 119 yards, world record |
| Big’s Backyard Ultra 2025 | 114 yards, world champion |
| Project 168, 2026 (solo) | 152 yards, unofficial |
Phil Gore FAQ
How old is Phil Gore?
He was 39 when he won Big’s Backyard Ultra in October 2025.
What is Phil Gore’s world record?
119 yards, about 798 km, at Dead Cow Gully in Queensland in June 2025. It’s the official backyard ultra world record.
Is Phil Gore running the 2026 Backyard Ultra World Team Championships?
No. He’s recovering from leg surgery after Project 168, and Jason Rantall has taken his place in the Australian team, which races at Kembla Grange, NSW, from 17 October.
What does Phil Gore do for work?
He’s a firefighter in Perth.
What was Project 168?
A solo attempt to run a 6.7 km loop every hour for a week. Gore stopped after 152 yards and raised more than $285,000 for Telethon.
The 2026 team championships are on our October events calendar.
