King of his backyard: Aussie runner's 764km world title

Australia’s newest world sporting champion has been left exhausted, exhilarated - and in desperate need of a shower and shut-eye - after the monumental endurance feat of running 764 kilometres to secure his global crown.

Phil Gore, a 39-year-old ultramarathon runner from Perth, took the Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra World Championship crown in the US on Thursday, after being the last man standing following nearly five days of almost non-stop slogging.

No wonder he needed a kip. ‘Backyard’ running features competitors having to repeatedly complete a 6.7km loop - known as a yard - starting every hour on the hour, until only one person remains.

Astonishingly, Gore completed 114 such ‘yards’ - a distance of about 764km, naturally covered over 114 hours - that’s four days and 18 hours.

It was the best ever performance at a world championships, even if it was five ‘yards’ down on his own landmark of 119 set around a cattle farm at Dead Cow Gully, 180km from Brisbane.

“It’s been an amazing event, I wanted to come here four years ago but I couldn’t because of COVID. And then two years ago I had my chance but it didn’t quite work out for me,” Gore, looking understandably a bit blank-eyed, explained to his admirers at the finish in Bell Buckle, Tennessee.

“I’m happy with the third time.”

Gore finally outlasted a 55-year-old Belgian Ivo Steyaert, who was the last of the 72-strong field to drop out after 113 ‘yards’, but hung around to cheer for the Aussie who’s known to his colleagues as “the King of the Backyard”.

He needed the support.

“There’s been a lot of time throughout this event where I’ve been really confused,” explained Gore. “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 a question that he now looks sure to keep asking himself. As world record holder and now world champion, what comes next?

“Retire from backyard and go and do something else,” he sighed, making it sound more like a declaration than a possibility. Who could blame him?