One of ultrarunning’s toughest competitors is now facing a battle of a very different kind — and it’s happening in a hospital bed, not on a trail.
Phil Gore, the backyard ultra world record holder, has revealed he needs surgery after a leg infection was initially misdiagnosed during a visit to the emergency room, leaving him to seek out a second opinion that may have saved him from a much worse outcome.
Gore shared the news himself in a video posted to Instagram, speaking candidly from his hospital bed about a medical ordeal that has taken him through three different Perth hospitals in a matter of days.
Here’s what went wrong — and what comes next for one of the sport’s most extraordinary athletes.
Jump to:
A Hard Stop After 152 Laps
To understand the stakes, you need to know what Gore had just put his body through.
In August, he spent six days and eight hours running a 6.71 km loop every hour, on the hour, around a reserve in Forrestdale, Western Australia — a solo endurance project known as Project 168, named for the number of hours in a full week.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
He made it to 152 laps, covering 1,019.92 km (roughly 633 miles), before stopping 16 laps short of his seven-day goal. His results page logs it as a DNF — a label that stings for any competitor, let alone someone of Gore’s caliber.
This wasn’t a race or a record attempt. There was no competitor to outlast, no governing body to ratify the result. Just one man, one loop, and a brutally simple mission that ultimately came up just short.
The Misdiagnosis That Set Off a Medical Crisis
What followed the run became alarming fast.
Gore was seen at Royal Perth Hospital, where doctors diagnosed the trouble in his leg as a hematoma — a pooled collection of blood beneath the tissue — and discharged him, telling him it would resolve on its own without surgical intervention.
Something didn’t sit right with him.
I just didn’t quite feel right about it, so I wanted to get a second opinion.
That instinct proved critical. Gore booked an appointment with a sports doctor, who agreed to draw fluid from the affected area — and what came out wasn’t blood.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
It was pus.
That single detail changed everything. Pus points not to a hematoma, but to an infection — and most likely an abscess, a sealed pocket of infected fluid that the body cannot reabsorb on its own. Unlike a hematoma, an abscess requires surgical drainage to properly clear.
The sports doctor immediately sent Gore to the emergency department and called ahead to a colleague at Fiona Stanley Hospital to ensure he’d be seen right away.
“A Whole Tour of Perth”
Gore handled the situation with the kind of dry humor you’d expect from someone who runs for days without sleep.
So this is the third hospital I’ve been to, just doing a whole tour of Perth.
He posted the video alongside a heartfelt note thanking the people who had been checking in on him — a gesture that reflects both the size of his following and the genuine concern from the running community that had been tracking his recovery.
At the time of filming, Gore said he expected to go in for surgery on Tuesday to have the leg properly cleaned out, with recovery to begin from there. He didn’t specify what caused the problem or whether it’s directly linked to Project 168.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
The Record Books Still Belong to Him
Even with a hospital stay dominating his recent headlines, Gore’s place in the sport is extraordinary.
He holds the backyard ultra world record at 119 laps, set at Queensland’s Dead Cow Gully in June 2025. Earlier that same year, he claimed the 2025 world title in Bell Buckle, Tennessee, completing 114 laps to take the crown.
Backyard ultra is a uniquely punishing format — runners complete a 6.7 km loop every hour until only one person is left standing. There’s no finish line. You either keep going, or you don’t.
Gore has proven, repeatedly, that he keeps going.
The Fundraising Didn’t Stop When He Did
Project 168 was never just about the running. At its core, it was a fundraising campaign for Telethon 7, Western Australia’s annual children’s charity broadcast.
By the morning after Gore stopped, donations had already reached A$267,667.56. More than two weeks later — long after the last lap was run — his fundraising tracker climbed to A$290,601.23, a testament to the goodwill his effort generated even in an incomplete form.
If you want something simple that actually works, this is one of the most effective tools I’ve used to build strength, conditioning, and endurance without needing a full gym setup.
- Full-body training with one weight using swings, squats, and presses
- Solid cast iron build that feels stable and lasts for years
- Comfortable grip that makes high-rep workouts easier to handle
Telethon counts its fundraising total across a broadcast weekend, scheduled this year for October 17 and 18 — giving the campaign even more time to grow.
A Date on the Calendar That Could Test His Recovery
October 17 carries particular significance for Gore beyond the charity broadcast.
That same day, Perth is hosting Australia’s leg of the backyard ultra world team championship — a 15-runner race where laps count toward a global points tally. The course record there stands at 76 laps, set by Gore himself back in 2022.
Whether he’ll be on the start line is the question nobody has an answer to yet. Gore has not indicated either way, and with surgery and recovery still ahead of him, the timeline is anything but certain.
What is certain is that the ultrarunning world will be watching — and quietly hoping their record holder lines up right where he belongs.
