Project 168: Perth firefighter Phil Gore pushing human limits to the extreme for Telethon

WA endurance powerhouse Phil Gore is no stranger to pushing human limits, but his latest feat will see him venture into uncharted territory even for him.

The 40-year-old Perth firefighter and endurance world record holder is preparing to tackle what he has dubbed “Project 168”, a brutal and non-stop seven-day solo running challenge to raise $168,000 for Telethon.

From Sunday, Mr Gore will complete a 6.7km loop of the Armadale Soccer Club oval on the hour for 168 consecutive hours.

That’s a staggering seven full days without a night’s sleep, covering a distance that eclipses most elite multi-day ultra-marathons.

Mr Gore already holds the backyard ultra world record after last year running for 119 hours straight — completing a distance of 798km.

He also boasts an Oceanic best over 24 hours, having covered just over 270km during a record attempt in 2024.

Yet, for Mr Gore, the confines of standard events now leave a lingering sense of unfinished business.

“With a backyard ultra, if you’re the last one standing . . . you’re kind of like the only person in the event who doesn’t get to find out what their limit is because the reason you stopped is because the event had to stop,” he said.

“I’ve won a lot of them and get to that point where I feel like I can keep going . . . so I thought, let’s just do a solo one, make a big event out of it, and use it as a good cause to raise money for Telethon.”

Having grown up in a household that religiously watched Telethon — and having spent time in hospital himself as a young boy and later as a parent — Mr Gore felt a deep personal connection to the charity drive.

To survive seven days of relentless movement, Gore has calculated his physical strategy down to the exact minute.

Rather than standard rest, he will rely on a carefully structured cycle of 15-minute micro-naps during overnight hours.

To buy himself time to sleep, Mr Gore plans to run “fast laps” of around 35 to 40 minutes, leaving him a razor-thin window to shower, rest and be woken up by his support crew before the next hour strikes.

“I’ll do three fast laps in a row to sleep, and then one slower lap to give my body a chance to reset.”