Briton runs across Australia in 35 days to smash record

By AFP May 20, 2025 | 04:29 pm PT

A British athlete says he has set a new world record for running across Australia, notching up the equivalent of 90 marathons in 35 days.

William Goodge started his 3,860 kilometer (2,400 mile) effort in Western Australia on April 15, trekking through desert, farmland and forest before finishing at Sydney's famed Bondi beach on Monday.

People at Bondi beach in New South Wales, Australia. Photo by Pexels/Hallie Evans

Averaging about two-and-a-half marathons each day, the English-born endurance runner smashed the previous record of 39 days set in 2023.

"It was like a revolving nightmare that wouldn't end," the 30-year-old told the Sydney Morning Herald.

"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."

Goodge, who ran across the United States in 2023, uses his feats to raise money for charity after his mother died of cancer in 2018.