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.
"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."