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News.com.au
21 hours ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Pom smashes iconic Aus record but tracking furore rears ugly head
Earlier this week, English runner William Goodge not only broke the record for the fastest time to run across Australia — he smashed it. The 31-year-old beat Australian Chris Turnbull's previous record by a staggering four days, as he ran from Cottesloe Beach in Perth to Sydney's iconic Bondi Beach in just 35 days. He remarkably completed the 3,952 kilometre journey from west to east 12 days faster than notable Australian Nedd Brockmann did three years ago with roughly 500 people waiting to greet him at the finish line.  Watch the biggest Aussie sports & the best from overseas LIVE on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer. Goodge, who was once a model and semi-professional rugby player, spent 15 hours a day pounding pavement and ran roughly 110km per day on average to break the record. All the while, his more than 250,000 Instagram followers came along for the journey as they scrolled on their phones. The numbers are simply mind-blowing. It is little wonder the Englishman told he has 'been pretty horizontal' in the days since he completed his epic journey. Officially the fastest human to run across Australia. William Goodge. Congratulations to Will, well done to his team, and thank you to everyone that showed up to support the finish. â�¤ï¸�🇦🇰ðŸ�† — Represent (@representclo) May 19, 2025 But Goodge's success is not being widely celebrated among the ultra-running community. Running such vast distances is largely reliant on self-reporting via the data collected on a GPS watch, and some have accused Goodge of fudging his numbers. Fellow English runner William Cockerell voiced concerns about Goodge's heart rate data when he completed his run across the United States of America two years ago. Goodge ran from Huntington Beach in California to New York in 55 days, making him the fastest Englishman to ever do so. He was 13 days shy of American Pete Kostelnick's record, but Cockerell believed Goodge's heart rate was too low for the extreme distances he was running. Cockerell even went to America to follow Goodge during his run, trying to catch him swapping his official GPS watch with different runners and having a rest. The pair then clashed on the side of a road, which made for a fiery YouTube video. Goodge passionately denies the allegations, simply saying 'we had a tracker on, it was on me at all times' after his Australian record. 'People could come cheer me on or come for a run sometimes,' he added. The accusations come not just from Cockerell, however. Fellow British runner Robert Pope, who grew a massive beard in 2016 and recreated Forrest Gump's run, told British newspaper The Times last month that he doubted Goodge, saying his 'heart rate doesn't make sense'. The ABC reported that suspicions were heightened by Strava data on day two of Goodge's run across Australia when followers noticed that he had covered 400 metres in just 23 seconds - 20 seconds faster than South African Wayde van Niekerk's world record set at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Canadian Running Magazine also published that they had picked up that Goodge's data said he ran at faster than 80km/h on occasions. The anomalies could simply have been transmission errors as he ran through remote areas. While the heart rate concerns could be explained by him running slowly, or the fact often he ran with a face covering may helped. Regardless, Goodge has repeatedly denied the allegations against him. 'I've done everything I've ever said I've done,' Goodge told the Australian Financial Review (AFR) before he set off from Perth. 'But I appreciate that there is a higher burden of proof when you say you're going for an actual record.' With his feet up after the run, Goodge instead chose to focus on the positives. His efforts have raised more than $20,000 for the Cancer Council of Australia as well as thousands of dollars for UK charity Macmillan Cancer Support and the American Cancer Society. Goodge lost his mother from non-Hodgkins lymphoma in 2018, and her memory was well and truly on his mind as he made his away across Australia. He lay flowers for her when he arrived at Bondi Beach, and the inspiration for his journey was a family holiday as a primary school aged child. 'I've always loved the country. I came for the first time when I was 11 and went all over the place. After that trip, I'd always bug my parents to move,' Goodge said of Australia. 'I wanted to grow up like an Aussie kid outdoors, everything seems super positive and obviously the weather is pretty good here compared to the UK. 'When I'm intrigued by a place, my way of going and looking at it is running across it or doing a big run within it. So, it seemed like a natural next step and one that I really wanted to do.' Family was also physically part of the whole journey as his father was part of the five member crew that supported Goodge in almost any way possible. 'The only things I do for myself are run every step and wipe my own ass,' he said with a laugh. 'They're literally helping with everything from the moment I wake up to when I go to bed.' Their support was essential particularly in the early stages, with the opening stanza out of Perth and dodging road trains and wildlife across the Nullabor proving most challenging. 'The first nine days were kind of like a revolving nightmare that I couldn't get out of,' Goodge said. 'I couldn't sleep at night because I was in so much pain. 'Obviously when you're not sleeping a lot, and you're going out and pushing hard again, it's relentless and it takes your head into some strange places.' Helping him as well was the support of new-found friends Brockmann and fellow Brit Russell Cook, who boasts 1.2 million Instagram followers under the moniker 'Hardest Geezer' after he ran from the southern most point of Africa to the northern most point. 'Nedd Brockmann is a friend of mine. We'd spoke beforehand and we chatted along the way,' Goodge said. 'It's quite hard to find similar people to yourself when you do cross country, literally across a country, not the traditional way.' Brockmann was one of the first people to comment on Goodge's Instagram post announcing he had broken the record, writing 'incredible my man'. 'You deserve it all mate. What a feat of human endurance, thanks for the daily inspiration and reminding us all we can always do more!! King Goodge!' he continued. Australian comedians Matt Ford and Jack Steele from The Inspired Unemployed also leant a hand by sending Goodge and his team some of their Better Beers for the celebrations. Goodge did not shy away from having a beer and a cigarette across the journey for his mental health and as he needed to consume roughly 7000 calories a day to fuel his body. He sometimes took those down moments as a chance to take aim at his vocal critics on social media, however. 'Keep talking motherf******, keep adding fuel to the fire and I'll make it even more unbelievable,' he wrote in one Instagram post. Another Instagram story was captioned: 'And from all of us at the record down under team, to the nay sayers we sincerely say f*** you.' Goodge insists his main motivation is not fighting his opponents, however. He says he will keep taking on these challenges, with the Berlin and New York marathons, as well as a project in Iceland, in his sights for the remainder of the year, because the finish line feeling is like no other. 'It's an unbelievable feeling because you've been out there for more than a month. Especially when you're in the middle of it, you think it's never going to end,' Goodge said. 'It's definitely a big amount of relief and gratitude to those who helped me. That feeling of crossing the line is like no other I can imagine. 'That's the real reason I keep going back to these things. 'It can only be attained through a huge and physical mental output.'
ABC News
20-05-2025
- Sport
- ABC News
Why are some ultra runners questioning William Goodge's record-breaking trans-Australia run?
When William Goodge arrived at Bondi Beach on Monday afternoon, he did so as a record holder. Just 35 days earlier, the 31-year-old British runner had set off from Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia and traversed the 3,800 kilometres across the nation on foot. Goodge beat the previous record, set by Australian Chris Turnbull, by a whopping four days, regularly running around 110km per day. So why has such an incredible achievement raised questions among the tight-knit ultra-running community? Goodge is a 31-year-old ultra runner from Ampthill, 70km to the north of London in Bedfordshire, England. He is a former model and used to play semi-pro rugby for the Ampthill Rugby Club in the third tier of English rugby — and still has the physique to match — but gave up after he "got knocked out too many times". In 2018, his mother passed away from non-Hodgkins lymphoma and, amidst that grief, he turned to running. "Obviously she was such a special woman to me and the only reason I got into this stuff was because of her passing," Goodge told ABC Sport from Sydney, little over 24 hours after he completed his record run. "So it's really a celebration of who she was and what she instilled in me as a person. "No one truly dies unless you stop talking about them, so I know she was with me the whole time, pushing me along. "It was really nice at the end, a gentleman actually brought us out a bottle of port [when] we're in South Australia. and my mum would always have a glass of port after a rugby game, so yeah it was cool to do that and give her a little cheers and a nod. "And we laid some flowers down at Bondi Beach as well for her." Definitely not. Goodge's previous feats have included a 16-day, 1,350km run from John O'Groats in Scotland to Land's End along the length of the United Kingdom and, in 2021 he 48 marathons — one in each of England's counties — in just 30 days. In 2023 Goodge completed the TransCon, a 5,109km cross-country run across the United States from Huntington Beach, California, to New York in 55 days, making him the fastest Englishman to ever do so. The record, incidentally, is held by American Pete Kostelnick, who did it in a staggering 42 days and six hours. Goodge has also competed in the 257km Marathon des Sables across the Sahara Desert in 2022 and finished 11th at the Moab 240, a 240-mile (386km) ultra race in Utah. He has raised thousands of dollars for charity and has been fundraising for the Cancer Council of Australia, as well as the UK-based Macmillan Cancer Support and the American Cancer Society for this run. Before Goodge began his Transcontinental USA run in 2023, some ultra runners began to ask questions about his data, most vocally Englishman William Cockerell. Ultra running over these sorts of distances is almost entirely self-reporting. People take a GPS watch and run a particular distance and then submit their data for ratification to either the Guinness World Records or Fastest Known Time (FKT). Cockerell, a fellow runner and author, raised concerns over Goodge's heart rate data. Simply put, he believes Goodge's heart rate is too low for the distances he is running and that after an initial period where his heart rate does vary, it then stabilises. Cockerell even travelled out to America to observe Goodge's run in the USA, hoping to catch him "watch muling" — or swapping his official tracking watch between different runners while he has a rest. This sort of thing is not unheard of in ultra running record attempts but it is an allegation that Goodge denied strenuously, inviting Cockerell to observe him for as long as he wanted to. The pair ended up having an altercation on the side of the road — which was documented in an episode of his run on YouTube. It's not just Cockerell though. Rob Pope, another ultra runner, told The Times in April that although he hopes Goodge's records are legit, his "heart rate doesn't make sense". The suspicious among ultra running community are still pointing out issues from his recent Australia run. His run from April 16, day two of his challenge, has been flagged on Strava after users noted that he set a personal record of 23 seconds for 400m — that's 20 seconds faster than Wayde van Niekerk's world record on the track and is a speed of about 62 km/h — with his pace analysis recording that, for 42 seconds, he ran faster than 3:33 per km. Canadian Running Magazine has also observed his InReach data recording movement at speeds exceeding 80 km/h. These blips in the data can be easily explained away by transmission errors in what is a very remote part of the country, but it certainly adds fuel to the doubters. Conscious of the doubters, Goodge tracked his run by Garmin InReach and on Strava, which records his position and his basic stats, like speed and heart rate. "I knew it was gonna come," Goodge told ABC Sport in regard to the sceptics. "I was prepared for that and just, it comes with the territory. And you can't blame people for coming at you and questioning your stuff. Like, it's just part and parcel of it. "Like, we're out in the middle of nowhere running all day. It's not like you can see me on TV. "Obviously we do everything we can, like, put the tracker up live so if anyone ever wanted to come and see us — and we had a lot of people that wanted to come out and run — just come and find us. So yeah, you do everything you can, "But there's obviously like a limit. I can't live stream the whole event. Maybe that would be something you could do in the future but being on roads like that as well, it's just like it's really tough. It's tough to be able to even think about like having a car near me because it's too dangerous." This is true. And just as when Cockerel came out to watch him run, he found no evidence of any wrongdoing whatsoever. "I've done everything I've ever said I've done," Goodge told the Australian Financial Review (AFR) before his run. "But I appreciate that there is a higher burden of proof when you say you're going for an actual record." It is, and one he's understandably very proud of and one he felt was important to add another level to his fundraising. "It was really important," Goodge told ABC Sport. "All the other events have obviously been impressive and I've had to give everything to them — even though I do maintain this is the hardest thing I've ever done, just because of the the scope of it and not having like any room for error. "But it was something for me … maybe it's for my ego, but I've been in this game, what, six years since I did my first challenge? And I feel like it's time for me to step up. "Like, I get a lot of stuff in media talking about my modelling stuff and former rugby player, and that's cool, but that's not who I am, right? "It's like, the main thing I do is I'm an ultra endurance athlete, and not a normal one by any stretch, but that's how I want to be presented. "So yeah, it's a cool one to achieve for me." Goodge's heart rate data comes from a wrist-worn device — research papers say that these devices only have a moderate degree of accuracy. He told the AFR that he always tries to run in Zone 1 or Zone 2 — and that is born out in his data, available publicly on Strava. There are five heart rate zones, with Zone 1 rated as Endurance for low heart rates, all the way up to Zone 5, for Anaerobic activities where your heart rate goes very high — think walking as endurance and sprinting as anaerobic. Zone 1 is the lowest intensity training zone and is characterised by being about 50 per cent of your maximum heart rate, so you can easily talk and breathe while doing exercise. It's different for everyone but, according to Strava, for Goodge it's anything below 123 beats per minute. Zone 2 is a relatively common state of training for endurance athletes and where a lot of training takes place and, for Goodge, is anything between 123 and 153 beats per minute. Let's take a typical day in the middle of Goodge's run, May 11, where he ran 112km in 13 hours, 15 minutes, at an average pace of 7 minutes and 6 seconds per kilometre. His highest recorded heart rate was 156 beats per minute, but his average was 104bpm. Incredibly, 92 per cent of his run took place with his heart rate in Zone 1, with eight per cent in Zone 2. When Australian endurance runner Nedd Brockmann did his trans-Australia run, he tended to run more in Zone 2 — while running across similar terrain around the flat country of Kimba in South Australia, Goodge ran 110km at 7:55 per km with an average of 101bpm, 93 per cent in Zone 1, while Brockmann ran 102km at 5:42 pace with an average heart rate of 130bpm, 85 per cent of which was in Zone 2. There were days when there were similarities though. Both men ran similar distances late in their attempts, from near Yass to Goulburn in New South Wales which, according to the Strava data, took place in similar conditions, clear and 6C. Brockmann ran 106km in 11 hours and 25 minutes at an average pace of 6:28 per km, with an average heart rate of 114bpm, 73 per cent of which was in Zone 1. Goodge ran 113km in 14 hours and 40 minutes at 7:47 per km, averaging 110bpm with 81 per cent in Zone 1. "The thing is, I don't really look at it, but on day one, it [my heart rate] is probably going to be higher because I can push more," Goodge said in response to the criticism. "But it gets to a point where your legs are so bad you can't really go very fast. "I've done so much of this — like, my foundational training and all the events I've done, challenges — meaning that I can just ride out and I'm very much [running at] a conversational pace. "But there's also just so many other aspects to this that you can't really consider all the time. "Like, I'm running past roadkill and I'm putting something over my face, or a dust storm has come in, or a road train has come close to me, or I'm literally running along and I'm singing. "So there's so many variables involved of why my heart rate might go up at a particular point, even though my pace is the same, or go down. "Also, I'm running slowly. "Like, really slowly … it's not sustainable to try and push that hard for that long, so I have to keep, basically, a steady effort the whole time." By their very nature, endurance events are somewhat difficult to ratify outside of the competitor's honesty. Distance running has always had this issue, right from the early days of the Olympic Marathon in St Louis in 1904, when American runner Fred Lorz was disqualified after getting a lift for the majority of the race. With ever more demanding events over longer and longer distances outside of ratified events, self-reporting is vital. Goodge has not shied away from confronting those who are doubting the authenticity of his feats head on. "If it's fight or flight, I'm a fight kind of guy," Goodge said when asked about his somewhat brash social media response to critics. "Today's effort is rage," he wrote on Instagram on April 28, to give an example. "Keep talking motherf******, keep adding fuel to the fire and I'll make it even more unbelievable." Another post, this one on his Instagram story, showed Goodge relaxing with his crew, nursing a beer and a cigarette, with the caption: "And from all of us at the record down under team, to the nay sayers we sincerely say f*** you." There's no doubt that Goodge is not the average endurance runner. Not many men who pound the pavement have a modelling contract. Neither do they have a beer and a cigarette after a long day pounding the pavement. "I didn't do it every night," Goodge said. "And also, the calories I'm consuming and stuff like the alcohol and the carbs will just get going me and get out the other end. "[American ultra runner] Robbie [Ballinger] had a really interesting rule that we kind of took on which is always one beer, sometimes two, never three. "But yeah, if there is an element of just like getting into some kind of normality after finish. And like sitting down and having dinner with the crew is a big one for me … it brings the level down and doesn't make it such a absolutely horrendous experience." But maybe it's not that at all. Maybe it's just the extra attention. "It's almost, kind of like the fear of the unknown," Goodge said about why there is criticism directed towards him. "And I can understand why as like, a traditional runner in the sport, especially one that's like pretty underfunded. "It's traditionally [a sport full of] people that just want to go and do some crazy stuff and there's never been brands that have been that interested in it. "And then obviously someone like me comes along and I'm fortunate enough to have been in this social media world, not through any like real trying. I just would share what I was doing online, and fortunately, it's obviously picked up and I get a lot of messages from people saying that they've seen what I've done and it's helped them go through something. "Everything I'm doing is trying to be positive. "But yeah, I can understand why they see it as unfair, so I'm aware of that. "And just the way I do stuff, I'm quite brash, I'll say it as it is, I show the other sides of my life. "And yeah, it might rub people up the wrong way, and that's fine. It's a small percentage of people." It should be stressed that those doubting Goodge are in the minority. Goodge credits ultra-runner Robbie Ballinger as being a key source of advice in his career, such as helping him switch styles of trainers so his feet don't get battered in the exact same position mile after mile. He also made special mention of Aussie runners Chris Turnbull and Nedd Brockmann on his website. "The beautiful thing about ultra in general is we help our fellow competitors," Goodge wrote. Brockmann, who did his own trans-Australia run in 46 days was one of the first to congratulate Goodge upon him finishing his run. "Incredible my man," he wrote. "You deserve it all mate. What a feat of human endurance, thanks for the daily inspiration and reminding us all we can always do more!! King Goodge!"
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
British man claims record-breaking fastest run across Australia
A British ultra-endurance athlete says he has broken the world record for running across the width of Australia, after a gruelling 35-day journey. William Goodge, 31, started the 3,800km (2,361-mile) run from Cottesloe Beach in Perth on 15 April, and finished on Monday afternoon at Australia's iconic Bondi Beach, his father by his side. Goodge's team says he ran the equivalent of two-and-a-half marathons - about 100km - every day. Originally from Bedfordshire in England, Goodge started running marathons after his mother, Amanda, died from cancer in 2018, with this journey raising money for cancer charities in the UK, US and Australia. The record is yet to be verified by Guinness World Records, which certified Chris Turnbull's record-breaking dash across the continent over 39 days in 2023. The year before, Australian electrician Nedd Brockmann ran the same route in 47 days, raising millions for charity. Speaking to BBC Breakfast about 24 hours after he had crossed the finish line, Goodge said "it's the toughest thing I've ever done". Along the way Goodge ran through a dust storm, lost several toenails, and suffered from injuries, including rotting feet and bone pain, which sometimes caused him to hallucinate. "It was full-on from start to finish," he told the BBC, adding the first nine days were particularly hard. The Nullabor Plain - a vast area of desert that crosses from Western Australia to South Australia - was also "unforgiving", he said. Surprisingly though, Goodge said he was "feeling very comfortable" now that the run was over. Moments after crossing the finish line, Goodge placed a bunch of flowers on Bondi's famous shoreline in memory of his late mother. "She was the most special person in my life," he told the Guardian Australia, adding, "she would be proud of everything I've done - she'd also be concerned". Goodge said thinking about how his mother battled cancer was crucial during his journey, and helped him overlook his own suffering. "In the moments where it's tough, I'll think back to those times, I think about the woman she was, and how she handled herself, and how she supported me," he told the Sydney Morning Herald. "I feel like she's there with me a lot of the time." During the race, he says he saw almost all of Australia's famous animals - though most were dead on the road - and much of its unique countryside. Some in the running community however have questioned the accuracy of data tracking his speed and heart rate over the course of the run. "Goodge stands by his record keeping and asserts that he is taking every single step," his agent told the Canadian Running magazine last week. Goodge also claims to hold the record for the fastest British man to run across the US, crossing from Los Angeles to New York in 55 days. Get our flagship newsletter with all the headlines you need to start the day. Sign up here.
The Independent
20-05-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
British athlete smashes record for running width of Australia: ‘Like a revolving nightmare that wouldn't end'
A British ultra-endurance athlete has broken the world record for running across Australia in just over a month. 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'.
BBC News
20-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
William Goodge: British man breaks record for fastest run across Australia
A British ultra-endurance athlete has broken the world record for running across the length of Australia, after a gruelling 35-day Goodge, 31, started the 3,800km (2361 miles) run from Cottesloe Beach in Perth on 15 April, and finished on Monday afternoon at Australia's iconic Bondi Beach, his father by his from Bedfordshire in England, Goodge ran the equivalent of two-and-a-half marathons - about 100km - every day. He started running marathons after his mother, Amanda, died from cancer in 2018, with this journey raising money for cancer charities in the UK, US and Australia. The previous world record for running across Australia was held by Chris Turnbull, who managed the feat in 39 days in 2023. The year before, Australian electrician Nedd Brockmann ran the same route in 47 days, raising millions for to local media after he crossed the finish line, Goodge said the run was "like a revolving nightmare that wouldn't end". "The first nine days were extremely 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," he told the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH).Moments after crossing the finish line, Goodge placed a bunch of flowers on Bondi's famous shoreline in memory of his late mother. "She was the most special person in my life," he told the Guardian Australia, adding, "she would be proud of everything I've done - she'd also be concerned". Goodge said thinking about how his mother battled cancer was crucial during his journey, and helped him overlook his own suffering."So in the moments where it's tough, I'll think back to those times, I think about the woman she was, and how she handled herself, and how she supported me," he told the SMH."I feel like she's there with me a lot of the time."On Goodge's website about the run, he also thanked Turnbull for sharing his knowledge and experience on how to tackle the the journey. Goodge also holds the record for the fastest British man to run across the US, crossing from Los Angeles to New York in 55 days.
