British athlete smashes record for running width of Australia: ‘Like a revolving nightmare that wouldn't end'
William Goodge, 31, crossed the finish line in Sydney shortly after 4pm on Monday, completing the 3,800km run in 35 days at Bondi Beach.
The athlete from Bedfordshire started his run in Perth on 15 April and covered about 100km every day, the equivalent of two and a half marathons.
Mr Goodge shattered the world record held by Australian Chris Turnbull, who ran the width of the country in 2023 in 39 days.
Mr Turnbull had taken the record from Nedd Brockmann. The Australian electrician had completed the same run the year before in 47 days.
Mr Goodge said he started running marathons to raise money for cancer charities in the UK, US and Australia in honour of his mother, who died from cancer in 2018.
The athlete was handed bouquets of flowers after he crossed the finish line, which he placed at the shoreline in memory of his late mother.
"She was the most special person in my life," he told The Guardian. 'She would be proud of everything I've done – she'd also be concerned.'
Mr Goodge's father joined him at the finish line where the athlete said the run was 'like a revolving nightmare that wouldn't end'.
"The first nine days were extremely challenging,' he told the Sydney Morning Herald, 'but you have to tell your body and mind that even though you're struggling, you're going to persevere, and you're going to get through it.'
Mr Goodge explained how the challenging run took a toll on his body as his toenails started falling off along the way, feet started rotting and the pain in his bones disrupted his sleep, causing him to hallucinate.
'So, in the moments where it's tough, I will think back to those times, I think about the woman she was and how she handled herself and how she supported me,' Mr Goodge told the Australian daily, adding that he felt 'like she's there with me a lot of the time'.
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Times
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Funky fields and ‘Bazball' batting — 2005 Ashes was trailblazing series
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This was a series, among many other unforgettable moments of greatness, in which Kevin Pietersen was hitting the great McGrath back over his head on debut in the first Test at Lord's and smashing rather than defending his way to a draw with 158 in the fifth Test at the Oval. England also scored 407 all out (at a run rate of 5.13) on the first day of the second Test at Edgbaston after being put in by Ricky Ponting. Whether or not it remains the greatest series of all time is a matter of opinion, but it certainly had an impact on the game. Take the bowling by right-armers from round the wicket to left-handers. It had been done before, of course, with England's Craig White having had some success against Brian Lara, and there had been some images floating around of Pakistan's Shoaib Akhtar really troubling Adam Gilchrist with that tactic at the end of a spell during the previous winter. 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It was no surprise that England had come up with a plan of some sort because the head coach, Duncan Fletcher, was a stickler for the importance of angles in both batting and bowling. In exasperation he once asked Marcus Trescothick: 'Did you do geometry in school?' when Strauss's opening partner was unable to fathom the gist of Fletcher's thinking, with the coach playfully slipping a couple of protractors under Trescothick's door while on tour in Sri Lanka. Before the 2005 series Fletcher had warned Strauss about the danger of the angles he was creating when playing Warne's leg spin. Strauss wanted to move across his stumps and play everything to the leg side with the spin, but Fletcher suggested, if the ball was short enough, that Strauss stay leg-side of it and punch it with a straight bat through cover. 'I'd just got a hundred against [Stuart] MacGill [another Australian leg spinner] six months before and I remember thinking, 'I think I'm OK here, mate,' ' Strauss says. 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But it's one thing doing it against the Merlyn machine and another doing it against Shane Warne in the middle of an Ashes Test match.' Playing against the spin, as long as the length is right — either short enough or full enough — has now become an accepted coaching tip at the top of the game, with Rahul Dravid's famous email to Pietersen when the England batsman was struggling so badly against left-arm spin containing just that advice. Mind you, those problems of Pietersen's were mainly brought about by the introduction of the Decision Review System, which was not in place in 2005, and caused players to think about playing finger spin very differently, representing a huge change in the game from that time. 'It didn't affect me quite as much as some others,' Strauss says. 'I was always trying to get my bat in front of my pad anyway. Back in the day people used to squeeze the ball between bat and pad, but you couldn't play like that any more.' 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That's what you were doing for the best part of three months in England — worrying about what the opponent is going to do.' ' The field placings by the captain, Michael Vaughan, contributed to this too. There are some funky fields these days, but Vaughan startled Australia with some of his arrangements, placing a short extra cover at Edgbaston for Matthew Hayden, who immediately hit one there to Strauss, and constantly playing on Hayden's ego that thrived on the boom of a straight drive by placing a catcher so straight that he was almost on the cut strip. Much was made of Pat Cummins's Bazball-spooked immediate use of sweepers at Edgbaston in the first Test of 2023, but it was the smart use of sweepers and in-out fields by Vaughan that also cornered Gilchrist back then. 'They were agile with their field settings,' he said. 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The Guardian
2 hours ago
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Bailey Smith gets back to work with Geelong Cats following hot weekend hookup with Tammy Hembrow - after blowing up at onlookers during training
Bailey Smith was back to doing what he does best on Sunday. The 24-year-old lit up the field with a dominant performance as the Geelong Cats faced off against the Sydney Swans at the SCG. The AFL star was in top form during the Round 23 clash, racking up 30 disposals and five clearances, helping steer the Cats to a strong showing in a high-stakes game. Bailey was fired up throughout the match, with his signature long blond locks flowing beneath a white headband as he barked instructions to teammates. Dressed in Geelong's classic navy and white striped guernsey, the midfielder looked every bit the elite athlete, his powerful frame on full display as he charged across the turf with intensity and flair. Smith was seen gripping the yellow football as he powered down the sideline, eyes fixed forward in a determined sprint. But it wasn't just his on-field heroics that had tongues wagging over the weekend. Bailey has found himself at the centre of a media frenzy following reports of a blossoming romance with fitness influencer and mother-of-three Tammy Hembrow. The pair were spotted enjoying their second beach date on Friday, this time taking a romantic stroll down Nobby's Beach on the Gold Coast. In footage shared by Instagram gossip page Influencer Updates AU, Smith was seen with his arm draped around Tammy's waist as they sipped coffee and wandered along the sand. The duo reportedly arrived together in Tammy's car and later left with Bailey behind the wheel. Tammy later posted a snap from the beach to her Instagram Stories, wearing the same grey tank and denim shorts seen in the paparazzi video. Meanwhile, Bailey had been seen earlier that day in Melbourne sporting the same black tracksuit he wore during the date. It's understood the visit was brief, with the footy player returning to Melbourne before flying to Sydney for Sunday's match. Daily Mail exclusively revealed Bailey and Tammy were seen together on a date on the Gold Coast, kissing and sharing lunch at a waterfront restaurant. Their budding relationship comes just two months after Tammy's split from ex-husband Matt Zukowski, and it's already stirred up major controversy online. Smith hasn't been weathering the storm of attention around his new romance with Hembrow. The AFL star was furious with onlookers on Thursday as he got back to work, taking part in a training session with the Geelong Cats in Victoria. Media and photographers showed up to see the playboy footballer return to the field after his weekend fling with Tammy - only for Smith to direct a string of expletives in their direction. Smith covered his face as he walked off the pitch following his spray, the Herald Sun reported on Thursday. It appears the young athlete is unimpressed by the intense interest in his latest love match, and had likewise unleashed on photographers who spotted him at Melbourne Airport after his hookup with Tammy last weekend.
