Running News Daily

Phil Gore already knows what it takes to push backyard ultra running beyond conventional limits. Now, later this month, the Australian ultrarunner is preparing to chase a number so extreme that his sport has no official category for it.

From August 23 to 30, Gore will attempt Project 168 at Alfred Skeet Reserve in Forrestdale, Western Australia, running one 6.71-kilometre loop every hour, on the hour, for seven consecutive days.

The name says almost everything about the challenge. There are 168 hours in a week, and Gore's plan is simple in concept but extraordinary in execution: complete one loop every hour until the seven days are over.

If he manages to complete all 168 loops, he will have covered approximately 1,127 kilometres, or 700 miles, across a single week.

But the distance is only part of what makes Project 168 so remarkable. This time, Gore will be alone.

Backyard ultras traditionally revolve around competition. Runners must complete a set loop every hour, with the race continuing until only one athlete remains. Gore's previous 119-lap world-record performance was built within that format, with Sam Harvey pushing him through five days of relentless running.

Project 168 removes that element entirely. There will be no rival waiting on the course, no athlete to chase and no opponent forcing the pace. Instead, Gore will face the same loop, the same hourly deadline and the growing physical and mental fatigue that comes with repeating the process for an entire week.

Every hour brings another decision: get back out there and complete another 6.71 kilometres.

Then do it again.

And again.

For 168 hours.

The challenge will test far more than Gore's ability to run long distances. Sleep deprivation, nutrition, hydration, recovery and the psychological pressure of knowing another loop is always approaching will become part of the battle. What might seem like a manageable 6.71-kilometre run at the beginning could become a formidable test after dozens of consecutive hours.

Yet Project 168 is not being undertaken solely as a personal endurance experiment. Every lap will help raise money for Telethon 7, giving the extraordinary challenge a purpose beyond the numbers on the course.

Gore, a firefighter and father of four, is attempting to build a benchmark for a challenge that has never before been pursued in this exact format. There is no official record waiting at the finish line, no rival to beat and no conventional race clock to stop.

There will simply be 168 hours, 168 loops and approximately 1,127 kilometres standing between Phil Gore and a completely new measure of endurance.

On August 23, the first hour begins. From there, the question will remain the same every 60 minutes:

Can he go again?

The road to Los Angeles 2028 will once again run through Eugene, Oregon.

USA Track & Field and the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee have announced that the 2028 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Track & Field will return to Hayward Field from June 17–22, 2028, giving Eugene the distinction of hosting the prestigious selection meet for a sixth consecutive Olympic cycle.

For a venue that has become synonymous with American track and field, the announcement represents another chapter in Hayward Field’s remarkable Olympic Trials legacy. Eugene previously hosted the Trials in 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021 and 2024, and will now stage the event once again as America’s finest athletes battle for places on the U.S. team headed to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.

The 2028 edition will also introduce a significant change to the traditional format. Instead of the eight-day competition used at recent Trials, the main track and field meet will be compressed into six consecutive days, reflecting athlete feedback and the need for a more efficient selection process with the Olympic Games beginning less than a month later.

The men’s and women’s 10,000 meters, along with the decathlon and heptathlon, will not be contested as part of the main six-day Trials. Their Olympic team selection will take place earlier in the spring, with the dates and locations to be announced separately.

That scheduling adjustment is particularly important because athletes selected in Eugene will have only a short window to recover, prepare and travel before track and field competition begins at the Los Angeles Olympics. The LA28 track and field programme is scheduled for July 15–24 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

Eugene’s return also reinforces its extraordinary status within American athletics. Few venues in the world carry the same history, atmosphere and emotional connection to track and field as Hayward Field, where Olympic dreams have been decided repeatedly over the past two decades.

And while the spotlight will ultimately be on the athletes who make Team USA, the road to Los Angeles will begin with another unforgettable week in TrackTown USA — where careers can be transformed, dreams can be fulfilled and the smallest margins can decide who wears the American colors on the Olympic stage.

The countdown to Los Angeles 2028 has officially gained another major milestone. Hayward Field is ready to welcome America’s best once again. 

The Wanda Diamond League returns to action on Friday, August 21, and the men’s 5000m in Lausanne promises to be one of the evening’s most compelling distance races, with a strong American quartet ready to take on a deep international field.

Graham Blanks, Grant Fisher, Parker Wolfe and Nico Young will carry the American challenge at Athletissima, where they will line up against a formidable group featuring athletes from Kenya, Ethiopia, Bahrain, Eritrea, Burundi, Switzerland, Uruguay, Slovenia and Mexico.

The Lausanne meeting marks an important point in the 2026 Diamond League campaign, with the Road to the Final entering its decisive stages ahead of the series finale in Brussels on September 4-5. Lausanne is followed just two days later by the Silesia meeting, before the series heads to Zurich for the final regular-season stop.

Fisher arrives as one of the most established names in the field. The American Olympic bronze medallist has already produced a 12:49.61 season best over 5000m in Oslo and also won the 3000m in Paris earlier this season. His experience at the highest level makes him a major contender when the pace accelerates over the closing laps.

Blanks is another American to watch closely. Ranked among the leading 5000m athletes in the world, he has continued to establish himself as one of the United States’ most exciting young distance runners. World Athletics’ rankings placed him eighth globally in the event as of July 26, with Fisher sixth.

Wolfe and Young add further depth to an American lineup that could make the race particularly tactical. With four athletes capable of competing at a high level, the United States will have several cards to play as the race develops.

But the Americans will have no easy path to victory.

Bahrain’s Birhanu Balew headlines the international opposition and entered the season among the world’s highest-ranked 5000m runners. Kenya will be represented by Jacob Krop, Edwin Kurgat, Cornelius Kemboi, Charles Kiboina, Mathew Kipchumba Kipsang and Laban Kiptoo Kosgei, giving the race a powerful Kenyan presence.

Ethiopia also brings considerable strength, with Khairi Bejiga, Kuma Girma, Shimelis Niguse, Mezgebu Sime and Getnet Wale all listed in the field. Eritrea’s Abderezak Suleman, Burundi’s Egide Ntakirutimana, Switzerland’s Dominic Lokinyomo Lobalu, Uruguay’s Santiago Catrofe, Slovenia’s Žan Rudolf and Mexico’s Eduardo Herrera complete a truly international lineup.

The Lausanne 5000m is therefore shaping up as much more than an American showcase. It is a meeting of contrasting strengths: American depth, Kenyan distance tradition, Ethiopian endurance and a collection of international contenders eager to make their mark on one of the sport’s biggest stages.

With the Diamond League season moving rapidly toward its final stretch, every position and every point carries added importance. The question now is whether the American quartet can convert its collective strength into a victory—or whether the international field will once again prove too deep to control.

One thing is certain: when the Lausanne 5000m gets underway, the pace is expected to be hot, the competition fierce and the final laps unforgettable.

Amy Hunt has etched her name into European Championship history with a remarkable four-gold medal haul, becoming the first athlete in the 92-year history of the championships to win four titles at a single edition.

The 24-year-old sprinter produced a sensational series of performances in Birmingham, repeatedly delivering when the pressure was highest and completing a historic clean sweep that underlined her status as one of Europe’s brightest sprinting stars.

Hunt’s extraordinary campaign reached its climax in the mixed 4x100m relay, where she anchored the British team on the final leg and brought them home to secure her fourth gold medal of the championships.

It was the perfect finale to an unforgettable week. After already collecting three titles, Hunt once again showed her composure and finishing speed when it mattered most, helping Britain claim victory in the inaugural mixed 4x100m relay and completing a feat that had never previously been achieved in the competition’s 92-year history.

Her historic quadruple in Birmingham came across four events: the women’s 100m, women’s 200m, women’s 4x100m relay and the inaugural mixed 4x100m relay. That extraordinary range makes her achievement even more remarkable, as she combined individual sprinting brilliance with relay excellence to produce a championship campaign for the history books.

What makes the achievement even more remarkable is the sheer consistency required to maintain that level across an entire championship. Every round demands speed, concentration and recovery, yet Hunt continued to rise to the occasion each time she stepped onto the track. By the time she crossed the line in the mixed relay, she had not only secured another title but also completed a historic chapter that will forever be associated with her name.

Four gold medals at one European Championship is more than a remarkable medal tally—it is a piece of history. Hunt’s consistency across multiple events, combined with her ability to deliver under championship pressure, has transformed her Birmingham campaign into one of the standout performances of the championships.

For Hunt, the achievement represents a defining moment in her career. For European sprinting, it is a new benchmark—and one that could stand for years to come.

Dina Asher-Smith has cemented her place among the greatest athletes in European Championships history, becoming the most successful gold-medal winner in the competition’s history with an extraordinary haul of eight titles.

The British sprint star added another chapter to her remarkable European story at the Birmingham 2026 Championships, helping Great Britain triumph in both the women’s 4x100m relay and the mixed 4x100m relay. Those two victories took her career tally to eight European Championships golds — more than any other athlete in the history of the competition.

Asher-Smith’s journey to the top began in Amsterdam in 2016, where she claimed the 200m title. Two years later in Berlin, she produced one of the finest performances of her career, winning both the 100m and 200m before helping Great Britain secure another gold in the women’s 4x100m relay.

Her European dominance continued in Rome in 2024. Asher-Smith successfully defended her place at the top of the 100m podium and then added another relay gold as part of the victorious British women’s 4x100m team.

Birmingham 2026 brought two more historic triumphs. Asher-Smith played a key role in Britain’s victories in both the women’s 4x100m relay and the mixed 4x100m relay, taking her European Championships gold collection to an unprecedented eight.

Her eight European Championships golds are:

Amsterdam 2016 — 200m (Gold)

Berlin 2018 — 100m (Gold)

Berlin 2018 — 200m (Gold)

Berlin 2018 — Women’s 4x100m relay (Gold)

Rome 2024 — 100m (Gold)

Rome 2024 — Women’s 4x100m relay (Gold)

Birmingham 2026 — Women’s 4x100m relay (Gold)

Birmingham 2026 — Mixed 4x100m relay (Gold)

Eight titles across four championships, stretching from Amsterdam to Birmingham.

It is a remarkable testament to Asher-Smith’s speed, consistency and longevity at the highest level. Over a decade, she has continued to deliver on Europe’s biggest stage — and now she stands alone as the most decorated gold-medal winner in European Championships history.

Georgia Hunter Bell is turning the 2026 season into a remarkable display of consistency, composure and championship brilliance.

The British middle-distance star added another major title to her growing collection in Birmingham, producing a perfectly judged tactical performance to win the women’s 1500m at the European Athletics Championships in 4:07.78.

It was her third major championship gold of the season, underlining just how exceptional her campaign has become. Rather than relying on a blistering early pace, Hunter Bell remained patient through the tactical opening stages before making her decisive move when the race began to unfold.

Her latest triumph follows her victory in the 1500m at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Toruń, Poland, and her Commonwealth Games success over 800m in Glasgow. Three major championships, three gold medals — across two different distances — is a remarkable achievement.

The European title also highlighted Hunter Bell’s versatility. She has repeatedly demonstrated that she can adapt to different race scenarios, whether the pace is aggressive from the gun or the championship demands patience, positioning and a perfectly timed finish.

Now, with three major titles already secured, attention turns to the final piece of what could become an extraordinary championship clean sweep: the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest, Hungary.

If Hunter Bell can add another victory there, she would complete one of the most impressive major-championship campaigns of the season — a golden run built not only on speed, but on intelligence, resilience and an ability to deliver when the stakes are highest.

Georgia Hunter Bell has already made 2026 a season to remember. One more major title could make it truly unforgettable.