Project 168: Perth firefighter Phil Gore pushes human limits to raise more than $50k so far for Telethon

Four nights in, and WA endurance powerhouse Phil Gore is looking good on his latest challenge, which takes him into unchartered territory on Thursday.

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

He is now more than half-way through his epic quest to complete a 6.7km loop of the Armadale Soccer Club oval on the hour for 168 consecutive hours.

BY the 72-hour mark yesterday morning he had raised more than $62,000.

He has been joined on the run by Telethon star Harrison Carthew and was discussed on US podcaster and sports commentator Joe Rogan’s show, while British TV personality Ant Middleton sent a message of encouragement.

Gore started the challenge on Sunday and is set to complete a staggering seven full days without a night’s sleep, covering a distance that eclipses most elite multi-day ultra-marathons.

“Looking strong at lap 49, he is happy that the first two nights are done as they are always traditionally his worst two nights to get through as his body gets used to the calorie influx,” his team told Western Suburbs Weekly on Tuesday.

“He has been getting 5-10 mins of sleep per loop on the night laps … so maybe 40-60 mins sleep (interrupted) per night.”

By Day 3, he was getting stronger as the laps ticked over - and was getting an appetite back as he kicked into another gear.

Mr Gore already holds the backyard ultra world record after last year running for 199 hours straight and completing 798km.

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

But the confines of standard events now leave Gore with 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 though, 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.”