Wild new backyard ultra world record set in Australia

*Update: After publication, Phil Gore and Sam Harvey began lap 119, with Harvey then collapsing on course shortly afterward. Gore finished the loop and now holds the new backyard ultra world record of 119 laps.*

At Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra in rural Queensland, Australia, two runners are deep into the kind of effort that bends the edges of human endurance. Phil Gore and Sam Harvey have been running one 6.7-kilometre loop every hour, on the hour, for 118 hours (more than 790 kilometres)—and counting. Harvey, from New Zealand, and Gore, a native Australian, have already passed the previous world record and are now running into uncharted territory.

The uniqueness of the backyard ultra event

The backyard ultra, created by Gary Cantrell (also known as Laz Lake), requires participants to run a 6.7056 km loop every hour on the hour until only one person remains standing. It’s a race of both physical and mental endurance, as the clock doesn’t stop—if you can’t finish the loop within the hour, you’re out.

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A setting built for suffering

Dead Cow Gully is held on a working cattle property that’s been in race director Tim Walsh’s family since the 1800s. The unique name comes from a real incident: a cow that tumbled into the gully near the loop’s creek crossing and was found a week later, tangled in tree roots above the water. The course runs through that same gully, and can be scorchingly hot during the day and frosty cold at night.

Each competitor is issued a cattle tag to hang on a board at race HQ. When they drop out, they remove it, until just one tag remains. The trophies are as unique as the race name—handmade from 80-year-old fence posts salvaged from the property.

Record setters showed up ready

This year’s edition of Dead Cow Gully was anticipated to go deep, with a line-up of veteran backyard ultra champions at the helm. Gore had previously set the world record (at the premiere edition of Dead Cow Gully), at 102 hours, in 2023, with Harvey by his side as the assist. Also on the line: American ultrarunner Harvey Lewis, who completed 108 laps at Big’s Backyard Ultra in 2024, and Belgium’s Merijn Geerts, who’s tied for third on the all-time list, with 110.

Just last month, Polish ultrarunner Łukasz Wróbel set a new world record at Legends Backyard Belgium, held in Retie, Belgium, after running for 116 consecutive hours. Jan Vandekerckhove served as his pacer and assistant, dropping out after 115 laps. With Gore and Harvey several hours past the 116-hour mark, it’s anyone’s guess as to how, or when, the race will end.