NZ runner collapses in dramatic ultra-marathon finish.
Poppy Clark and Brie-Ellen Harding
Kiwi runner Sam Harvey smashes world ultra running record
VIDEO CREDIT: Big Dog’s Backyard Ultra Run Group
Kiwi runner Sam Harvey has collapsed after 118 loops of the gruelling Backyard Ultra marathon race.
Dubbed the ‘race of the decade’, Harvey joined 263 other competitors at Dead Cow Gully in Queensland for the Backyard Ultra.
Every hour runners must complete a 6.7km loop, until only one runner is left.
By Wednesday afternoon just two out of 263 runners remained – Harvey and Australian Phil Gore.
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On Thursday morning, after completing 118 loops and breaking the world record, Harvey lost the ability to run and was stumbling down the course before collapsing to the ground, race organisers said.
He was delirious and in pain, they added.
Sam Harvey collapsed after 118 laps of the gruelling race. DEAD COW GULLY
If Gore can complete this next loop he will become the sole new world record holder.
The previous world record sat at 116 loops but Harvey and Gore pushed through one of the coldest nights of the event so far so reach 118.
Previously Harvey said he didn’t just want to break the record, “he wants to smash it,” Mum Merryn Pugh told Stuff.
“He’s determined to take it to 150 laps and basically make it almost unachievable for anybody else, unless all the ingredients are perfect.”
By 3pm on Wednesday afternoon Harvey had recorded a personal best of 102 laps but it’s not been easy, according to his Dad.
“He’s been to hell and back,” he said. “He’s like a cockroach. He keeps coming back.”
Sam Harvey has cracked the Backyard Ultra world record on Thursday. SUPPLIED
Pugh said running in the dark is has been one of the biggest challenges for all the athletes.
“The Dark is disorienting. You’re alone. There’s not a lot of stimulus. There’s not a lot of landmarks that you can focus on.
It’s pretty dreary. It was really misty and damp, and there’s not really much to look forward to.”
Harvey is no stranger to the kind of suffering this race demands.
In 2023, he helped Phil Gore set a then-world record of 102 laps while battling pneumonia.
Sam Harvey taking a quick nap ahead of 102nd loop to beat NZ record. SUPPLIED
