Phil Gore can be forgiven for thinking about retirement. The West Australian firefighter had just run 764km to win the Backyard Ultra World Championship in Tennessee.
Over nearly five days, with little time for sleep let alone his personal hygiene, he proved himself a class above the rest of the field in one of the world’s premier endurance running competitions.
At the finish line was his wife Gemma, who met him with tears and a kiss – and told him he stank. “You’re done, that’s it,” she said. “Forever,” Gore replied.
The 39-year-old has little more to prove. He had already set a world record in the format earlier this year at the Dead Cow Gully Backyard Masters event outside Nanango, around 200km north-west of Brisbane, where he ran almost 800km.
In Tennessee he didn’t have to go quite as far. Just 114 laps, each 6.7km within an hour, until he was the last runner left.
“I’m just tired, I just want to sleep,” he said. “There’s been a lot of time throughout this event where I’ve been really confused, like I was out running on the road by myself and I was like ‘how did I get here, what am I doing?’”
“It’s definitely been an adventure, and I’m going to be happy to go and get some proper sleep.”
Two years ago he ran 670km until he couldn’t complete his 101st lap, and finished sixth.
“I was still really proud of my race back then but it obviously didn’t turn out the way that I wanted. To get back here, it’s so much sweeter.”
Despite the extraordinary feats of Gore and his rivals, backyard running is very much on sport’s periphery.
When Gore’s achievement was posted on the Perth subreddit yesterday, he was recognised not as a world record holder, but as a former manager at Domino’s Pizza in East Fremantle.
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A former colleague commented: “If there’s one thing I remember about Phil, it’s that he wanted to be a fireman more than anything so it’s nice to see he’s still following his dreams.”
He was named Australian Ultra & Trail Runners Association male ultrarunner of the year in March for a string of performances including running 270km over 24 hours, an Oceania record.
Stephen Parker, author of the book There is No Finish: The Backyard Ultra Story, said on Facebook: “For years, Phil has been regarded in many circles as the king of the backyard, but without a world championship title, the crown was in dispute. No longer.”
Gore looked dazed but happy on the event’s livestream at the end of the race, and said he just wanted to have a sleep and a shower.
“I might retire from backyards now and go and do something else,” he said.
