Renowned Darling Downs resident Phil Gore spoke to The Examiner recently about his monumental achievement in Project 168.
As part of the fundraising event, the proceeds of which went to Telethon, Mr Gore was required to run a 6.71km lap within one hour for seven days straight, with an aim of reaching 168 laps.
He managed to make an astonishing 152 laps.
The event was staged at Forrestdale Lake from 23 to 30 August.
Mr Gore describes himself as the first member of his family seriously devoted to running as a sport, it being a passion that gradually emerged over time.
“About 12 years ago, I started running seriously with shorter, five kilometre runs, and that turned eventually into half marathons and then full marathons. After the pandemic, I discovered the Backyard Ultra,” he said.
When asked about training and preparation for the event, Mr Gore said that it was relatively consistent and similar to his usual regimen.
“It was just like my normal training, because I do these sorts of events every year anyway. It’s normally in a race and typically not for over six days, but yeah, it’s a lifestyle now. I’m always running.”
Despite the tight time allowance for each lap, Mr Gore said his planning before, and during, the race allowed him to factor in much needed breaks to sit down, shower, get changed, eat, and even take very brief naps.
“While on the go, I’d have small snacks, like a handful of lollies. When I’d made better time, I’d factor in a burrito, meat pie or coco pops. My appetite was pretty small at the beginning, but after about two or three days, I started getting hungry and needing real food.
“Even though I could only factor in like 15 minutes of sleep at a time, it was so deep that I felt like it had been two or three hours before my crew woke me up.”
Despite the immense nature of this achievement, Mr Gore said it was never intended as an attempt at a particular title. Besides its charitable motivation, he wanted to test his own limits for future reference.
“I wanted to see how far I could go, not chase any records. It was purely for my own knowledge of what I could do. We also raised close to $300,000 for Telethon, well above our original goal of $168,000.”
He said that although he did not reach the desired 168 laps, he still feels he can extend his limits going into the future.
“By the time I got to my last complete lap, number 152, I didn’t actually think I would finish it. I got to the halfway point behind time, so the second half of the course was actually quite a bit harder than the first. I thought I’m not going to finish in time, but I never gave up. I still kept pushing through. I was surprised when I got to the end and still had two minutes left. I knew; however, I wouldn’t make the next one.
“I’m pretty satisfied with where I got to, but I also know that if I were to do something like this again, I could push it a little bit more. Maybe one day I’ll get to that 168, perhaps in an official Backyard Ultra event.”
As part of the fundraising efforts, approximately 70 of the 168 laps were booked out for donors to join Mr Gore for a small part of the run. Some of the beneficiary children of Telethon were also lucky enough to run alongside him.
