Phil Gore has spent years redefining what's possible in backyard ultra (BYU) running. But Project 168 was different. His goal was to run for seven consecutive days, pushing beyond anything he'd attempted before.

So what happens when your mind is willing to keep running, but your body has finally had enough?

After 152 hours, his body forced him to stop. What followed was surgery, months without running and a confronting opportunity to reflect on the limits he'd been so determined to discover.

In this episode, Phil shares the mindset behind his extraordinary endurance, why he values the process more than the records, and what happens when the drive to keep going becomes stronger than the instinct to stop.

In this episode:

• How a recreational 5K runner became a backyard ultra world record holder
• Why Phil wanted to discover his absolute physical limits
• The mindset of taking endurance one lap at a time
• What happened during the final hours of Project 168
• The unexpected challenges of recovery and life without running
• Why Phil still finds joy in the simple act of running

🌏 Episodes, community, and all things Runbelievable:

http://runbelievable.au

🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday; hit follow so you don't miss a lap!

☕ Enjoying Runbelievable?

If the show has kept you company on a run, you can help keep the stories coming:

https://buymeacoffee.com/runbelievable

About Runbelievable

Runbelievable is the podcast for every runner. From your first parkrun to your 100th marathon, from walk-run intervals to dabbling in trail running, every runner has a story worth telling. Through honest conversations with runners from all walks of life, Runbelievable explores the challenges, achievements, setbacks, and experiences that connect us through running and shape who we become.

What happens when running becomes more than something you do, and starts becoming part of who you are?

Oli Jones has spent much of his life around running. He's founded a run group, coached runners, worked with young athletes and spent five years telling other people's stories through the Local Legends in Running podcast.

But after years of consistent running, the last three have brought injuries, a marathon DNF and the possibility that his fastest days may already be behind him. Along the way, Oli has had to reconsider what consistency, success and even being a runner actually mean.

This is a conversation about what remains when you strip away the PBs, coaching, podcasts and everything else we've built around running... and ask why we'd still choose to run.

In this episode:

• Growing up with running and walking away from it
• Endless injuries after almost a decade injury-free
• Accepting that another PB may never come
• Why consistency sometimes means doing less
• Finding community through running
• What five years interviewing runners has taught Oli
• Balancing running with coaching, teaching and family

🌏 Episodes, community, and all things Runbelievable:

http://runbelievable.au

🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday; hit follow so you don't miss a lap!

☕ Enjoying Runbelievable?

If the show has kept you company on a run, you can help keep the stories coming:

https://buymeacoffee.com/runbelievable

About Runbelievable

Runbelievable is the podcast for every runner. From your first parkrun to your 100th marathon, from walk-run intervals to dabbling in trail running, every runner has a story worth telling. Through honest conversations with runners from all walks of life, Runbelievable explores the challenges, achievements, setbacks, and experiences that connect us through running and shape who we become.

What if the person most intimidated by a run club is exactly the person it should be built for?

Cam Smit wasn't always a runner. He started in his late twenties, hated his first 2.7km and was too intimidated to join a run club himself. Years later, he created Cam's Run Club... the kind of running community he wishes had existed when he started.

The first session, literally nobody showed up. Today, 20–40 runners regularly join a community built around one simple idea: nobody runs alone.

If you've ever worried you're too slow, too inexperienced or simply not “runner enough” to join a run club, this conversation might change how you think about belonging in running.

Follow Cam's Run Club: https://www.instagram.com/camsrunclub/

In this episode:

• Why nobody came to Cam's first run-club session
• Building a club specifically for slower and newer runners
• Why nobody at Cam's Run Club runs alone
• The importance of finding a “third space” as an adult
• Cam's own journey from struggling beginner to sub-3:30 marathoner
• Why the term “only a 5K” should disappear from runners' vocabulary
• What Cam would tell someone who's still too nervous to show up

🌏 Episodes, community, and all things Runbelievable:

http://runbelievable.au

🎧 New episodes drop every Wednesday; hit follow so you don't miss a lap!

☕ Enjoying Runbelievable?

If the show has kept you company on a run, you can help keep the stories coming:

https://buymeacoffee.com/runbelievable

About Runbelievable

Runbelievable is the podcast for every runner. From your first parkrun to your 100th marathon, from walk-run intervals to dabbling in trail running, every runner has a story worth telling. Through honest conversations with runners from all walks of life, Runbelievable explores the challenges, achievements, setbacks, and experiences that connect us through running and shape who we become.