June 26, 2025
West Australian runner Phil Gore has taken out the 2025 Dead Cow Gully Backyard Ultra Marathon, becoming “the last man standing” in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Gore completed Loop 119, setting a new world record.
Last year’s winner, New Zealander Sam Harvey, was forced to drop out one loop earlier, getting assisted home after collapsing on Loop 118.
The pair also came in 1st and 2nd in 2023, with Gore breaking the then-world record on Loop 102.
This is the fifth year that Dead Cow has been held on organiser Tim Walsh’s family property at Runnymede, near Nanango.
About 270 runners hit the 6.7km (4.167 mile) course for the first time (Loop 1) at 7:00am on Saturday.
(This odd course length means Backyard Ultra runners complete 100 miles every 24 hours, wherever they are competing in the world.)
After more than 20 hours, there were still 100 runners completing the hourly loops on the Runnymede farm.
By Monday evening, this number had dropped to 13, then there were eight and then just four.
The world record was broken on Loop 117 early on Thursday morning with just Gore and Harvey left on the course.
Gore was about four miles short of the 500 mile mark when he finally called it quits after completing Loop 119.
American ultramarathon runner Jennifer Russo was the last woman standing, completing 76 loops.
Australia’s Holly Ranson retired after completing 61 loops and setting a new Australian record.
Dead Cow Gully is a test of endurance.
Each runner has 60 minutes to complete a loop or be eliminated.
The quicker they complete a loop, the more rest time they can enjoy until the cow bell rings for the start of the next loop at the top of the hour.
A handful of local runners usually join the elite international competitors in the early stages to test their staying power.
NB. Polish runner Łukasz Wróbel set the previous Backyard Ultra world record at in Belgium earlier this year with 116 loops.
