Phil Gore’s Project 168: The Seven-Day Charity Run Explained

Phil Gore began Project 168 in Forrestdale, Western Australia, on August 23, 2026. The objective is deliberately easy to describe and difficult to absorb: start a 6.71-kilometre loop every hour, on the hour, for one complete week.

If Gore completes all 168 yards, the project lists the total as approximately 1,127 kilometres, or 700 miles. The project is also a fundraiser for Telethon, which supports sick, vulnerable, and disadvantaged children in Western Australia.

What Is Project 168?

Project 168 is a solo endurance project inspired by the backyard ultra format. Gore starts one yard every hour and must return before the next hour begins. Whatever time remains is available for eating, drinking, changing clothes, foot care, rest, and every other task needed to keep moving.

The project started at 8:00 a.m. Australian Western Standard Time on Sunday, August 23, and is scheduled to finish at 8:00 a.m. on Sunday, August 30. Both times are 00:00 UTC. The venue is Alfred Skeet Reserve on Armadale Road in Forrestdale, south of central Perth.

Key Facts

Why It Is Not an Official Backyard Record

Project 168 uses the backyard distance and hourly start, but it is not a conventional backyard ultra. That distinction is more than a label. The official Big's Backyard Ultra rules say a race must be open-ended, the winner must complete one more yard than every other competitor, and non-competitors may not accompany active entrants on the course.

Project 168 intentionally changes all three parts:

• No competing field: Gore is testing himself against the clock rather than trying to remain after every rival has stopped.
• A fixed endpoint: the project ends after 168 hours, whereas an official backyard ultra must remain open-ended.
• Community laps: supporters can book selected yards alongside Gore, although they are fundraising participants rather than competitors in a race result.

In backyard language, an assistis the final rival whose continued participation makes the winner's last solo yard possible. It does not mean a support crew. Gore's official 119-yard world record at Dead Cow Gully was enabled by Sam Harvey's 118-yard performance. With no competing assist in Forrestdale, Project 168 cannot replace that record in the official table—even if Gore completes 120, 150, or all 168 yards.

The Scale of 168 Yards

Gore's official world record is already 119 yards: approximately 798 kilometres across 119 consecutive hourly starts. Project 168 adds 49 hours and about 329 kilometres to that benchmark. In distance terms, the target is roughly 41% larger.

Distance alone does not explain the format. A 45-minute yard leaves 15 minutes before the next bell. A 50-minute yard leaves 10. Those minutes must absorb every stop, and unused time cannot be saved for later. The week also contains seven overnight cycles, while the hourly deadline never changes.

Unlike a standard six-day race, where an athlete can distribute moving and sleeping time more freely, Project 168 imposes another start every 60 minutes and continues for a seventh day. That repeated interruption is the defining constraint. Read our full explanation of backyard ultras for the rules and distance math behind the format.

Why Phil Gore?

Gore enters the project with one of the strongest current résumés in backyard running. The official record table lists his 119 yards at Dead Cow Gully in June 2025 as the Australian and overall benchmark. Four months later, he won the individual world championship at Big's Backyard Ultra in Tennessee with 114 yards.

The ABC reported that Gore covered almost 800 kilometres during the Dead Cow Gully record and approximately 764 kilometres during the world championship. After the championship, he described periods of confusion late in the event. Project 168 asks him to return to the hourly start for more than two additional days beyond either of those performances.

Gore is also a firefighter and father of four. His official project page frames the week as a test of the limit that a last-person-standing victory cannot reveal: winners often stop because the race has ended, not necessarily because they are unable to begin another yard. See his source-checked runner profile for his backyard, 24-hour, and trail results.

The Telethon Fundraiser

The project's public purpose is fundraising for Channel 7 Telethon Trust. Telethon funds grants for beneficiaries supporting sick, vulnerable, and disadvantaged children in Western Australia. Its 2026 impact report says 100% of donations go directly to those grants.

Project 168's official site routes donations through its Telethon fundraising page. It also offers donation-based in-person lap bookings, virtual laps, and merchandise; the project says each lap booking is a donation and that $10 from each official shirt goes to the campaign. Availability and totals change during the week, so check the live page rather than relying on a number copied into an article.

How to Follow or Take Part

The official Project 168 website is the central source for the live video, campaign total, schedule, donation link, and participation options.

• Watch: use the live video embedded on the official project page.
• Donate: follow the Telethon donation link from that page to the Project 168 campaign.
• Run in Forrestdale: check whether an in-person yard is still available and read the participation terms before booking.
• Join remotely: select a yard and run a 6.71 km virtual lap in your own time zone.

A booked lap is a fundraiser experience, not an entry into an official race. Participants should follow the project's current instructions and assess whether the distance, conditions, and timing are appropriate for them.

What to Watch During the Week

The most meaningful comparison point is yard 120. Completing it would take Gore beyond the duration of his official 119-yard performance, though it would not change the formal record. From there, every hour would extend his personal maximum, with another 48 yards still required to reach the full-week target.

The larger story is not a record-table dispute. It is whether a runner who has repeatedly won open-ended backyards can manage a known endpoint that sits far beyond his previous maximum—and use public participation to turn that attempt into support for WA children. Completion would be historically notable. Stopping early would still leave a precisely documented personal challenge and a charity campaign, not a failed official race result.

We will treat the official Project 168 page as the authority for live progress and publish a result update only after the project reports the final number of completed yards.