Briton William Goodge is a 31-year-old ultra-endurance athlete. Along the way, he’s entered the record books as the fastest ever person to traverse Australia by foot! He recently pedaled down a grueling 3,800-kilometer route from Cottesloe Beach in Western Australia to Bondi Beach in Sydney. Remarkably, he did it all in 35 days! This is exciting enough, but it’s even more exciting because this record is the highest ever! It beats the old record set by Chris Turnbull, who finished the course in 39 days in 2023.
To put Goodge’s accomplishment into perspective, that’s like running two and a half marathons every single day for more than a month straight. His remarkable journey began with a valuable incentive. He drew inspiration from his late mother, Amanda, who lost her battle with cancer in 2018. During the run, Goodge shared what their relationship was like, and what she went through while battling her sickness.
He ringed in his birthday by crossing the Nullarbor Plain, a stop that was especially meaningful to him. Goodge’s dad completed the run alongside him, helping to maintain morale and motivation during their physically demanding and mentally draining endeavor. The saga culminated on Monday shortly after 4 pm. Upon reaching Bondi Beach, Goodge crossed the finish line in front of thousands of his fellow perfect strangers, including hundreds of runners who had accompanied him on the final leg of his run.
“It’s obviously been quite the journey … we start before the sun comes up and finish when the sun’s gone down,” Goodge remarked, highlighting the rigorous routine he maintained during the endeavor.
Goodge’s accomplishment has done amazing things already! To date it has raised $270,000 for the Cancer Council of Australia in memory of his mother. He expressed his feelings about her influence on his life, saying, “She was the most special person in my life … she passed away seven and a half years ago to cancer.” He said that she would be so proud of all he was accomplishing. At the same time, she would be concerned about what such an accomplishment could do to him.
The physical hurdles of the run were intimidating, particularly in those early days. “The first nine days trying to sort of acclimatise to what I was doing was a big challenge,” he admitted. Much to his surprise, and in many ways the opposite of what he thought would happen, his knees thrived. “Ironically, the knees have felt OK. They’ve been very solid,” he noted.
