Source :- THE AGE NEWS
William Goodge ran 3800 kilometres across Australia in 35 days, becoming the fastest man to cross the continent on foot, but his triumphant arrival in Sydney on Monday afternoon didn’t bring the relief he imagined. Instead, he says, he feels like an “alien”.
Completing the equivalent of two-and-a-half marathons per day, the English ultra-endurance athlete suffered pain felt deep in his bones, a torn Achilles tendon and insomnia brought on by an inability to find a sleeping position that did not aggravate the aches that racked every part of his body.
“It was like a revolving nightmare that wouldn’t end,” Goodge said. “The first nine days were extremely challenging … 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,” he said.
Goodge crossed the finish line at Bondi Beach on Monday afternoon, 35 days after setting off from Perth’s Cottesloe Beach, completing the fastest ever crossing of Australia by foot.
The journey required a gruelling 100-kilometre per day average, and equates to 90 consecutive marathons. The 30-year-old smashed the previous record set by Australian Chris Turnbull in 2023, who finished the run in 39 days.
Goodge, who is the fastest British person to run the nearly 5,000 kilometres across the US from Los Angeles to New York (55 days) and has completed a marathon in all 48 English counties, says his motivation to pursue such extreme feats came after he lost his mother, Amanda, to cancer.
William Goodge in Bondi Beach, where he finished his record-breaking run on Monday afternoon.Credit: Dylan Coker
“Seeing someone fight for their life in that way just gives me a lot of ignorance to my own self-suffering,” he said. “I feel like it’s nowhere near. 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.
“I feel like she’s there with me a lot of the time … I can go through old memories, I can have my own conversations with her in my head.”
Since April 15, when he set off across Australia, Goodge has raised more than $20,000 for the Cancer Council in Amanda’s memory. In his journeys across the world, he has raised more than US$250,000 ($400,000) for cancer research and other forms of cancer support.
The crowds that flocked to Bondi to welcome Goodge on Monday brought back memories of the reception for Australian cult hero Ned Brockmann, who covered the Perth to Sydney course in 46 days in 2022 and arrived to a hero’s welcome from a crowd of more than 10,000 supporters.
Last October, Brockmann ran 1,600 kilometres in 12 days around the track at Sydney Olympic Park, raising $2.5 million for homeless charity Mobilise. Both runners have garnered large fan bases due to sophisticated social media campaigns run by PR firms.
Goodge invited runners to complete the final five kilometres beside him. His team ran an active YouTube account documenting his journey, which has attracted over 250,000 views.
