On a diet including plenty of fast food and with virtually no sleep, Australian endurance athlete Phil Gore ran 6.71km every hour for an entire week

Being wrenched out of deep sleep by your alarm and forced to leave the comfort of your bed can be a horrible experience at the best of times. To go through that process again and again over the course of one night sounds like a bad dream. But last week, for six days and 15 hours, it was Phil Gore’s reality.

It gets worse – or better, depending on your penchant for self-inflicted suffering. Each time ultra-runner Gore was woken he had two minutes to put on his shoes and headtorch before a bell signalled it was time to start his next 6.71km running lap. He had slept for no more than 15 minutes. Pounding the pavement in the dark while the Perth suburb of Forrestdale slept, Gore would return about 40 minutes later and jump straight back into the bed he had set up at the Armadale Soccer Club. Rinse and repeat, all night, then all day (minus the sleep), all week.

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