Phil Gore has thigh surgery after 152-lap, 1,000km solo backyard ultra
Australian ultrarunner Phil Gore has had surgery to drain his left thigh after running more than 1,000km in a solo backyard ultra attempt.
The 40-year-old was treated at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth, where surgeons made a roughly 12cm incision and cleared about 500ml of fluid from his leg The Guardian. What had first been thought to be a haematoma, a swelling of clotted blood, turned out to be pus indicating infection, likely an abscess. He was fitted with a drain and kept under 48-hour observation.
The operation followed an extraordinary test of endurance. Gore ran for 152 hours straight, completing 152 laps in an event he called Project 168 Marathon Handbook.
A backyard ultra is simple and brutal. Runners must complete one 6.7km lap every hour, starting a new lap on the hour until they cannot continue. Gore’s 152 laps added up to 633.75 miles, just over 1,000km, and passed his official world record of 119 laps.
He did much of it in pain. Discomfort in his thigh began on lap 104. He kept running. He continued for another two days to reach 152 laps.
Gore is no stranger to extreme distance. He won the Backyard Ultra World Championship in Tennessee in the United States with 764km of running. His solo run in Western Australia also raised close to $300,000 for medical research and health services for children in Western Australia.
The aftermath has been difficult. His leg did not improve after the run, and he said in a recovery update posted on 8 September that he had gone to the emergency department and stayed in hospital for tests and scans Instagram. That admission was reported as his third spell in hospital after the six-day run Running Magazine.
What makes this stand out is the margin beyond the known limits. His championship distance was already among the longest ever recorded in the format. To go almost 260km further, alone and injured, explains both the fundraising response and the medical toll.
Gore, who posts as @phil.gore.ultrarunner, is now recovering under observation. No date has been given for a return to running.
