British ultrarunner and male model William Goodge is captivating the world with his outrageous attempt to become the fastest human to run 4000km across Australia – and he’s being spurred on by the tragic loss of his mum.
The former semi-professional rugby player from Ampthill, Bedfordshire in the UK began running as a coping mechanism to process his mother’s cancer diagnosis.
Amanda Goodge, a former nurse, succumbed to Non-Hodgkin lymphoma, a blood cancer, in early 2018 at the age of 53. She had beaten the disease twice previously.
‘Running helped me to deal with my demons,’ he told Daily Mail in 2019.
‘And I found I liked running on my own, because it helped my mind to process and deal with the things I faced.
‘We went through a lot as a family. I thought that if I felt either good energy or bad energy, then either way, I could put it into running and it would help.
William Goodge is attempting to become the fastest human to run 4000km across Australia
Goodge’s mother Amanda (pictured together) died in 2018 after battling non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Goodge turned to extreme long distance running to process his grief
‘If I felt bad, I would go on a run and by the end of it I’d feel slightly better. It became a coping mechanism and I’d be able to deal with the bad things for another day.’
Since that time, the endurance athlete has taken on many challenges, including becoming the fastest Englishman to run across the USA, raising thousands for cancer research in the process.
The 31-year-old is now attempting his toughest run, as he tries to become the fastest human to run across Australia – a record of 39 days set by Aussie Chris Turnbull.
Goodge trained for the epic quest by running more than 500km from Japanese city Osaka to Tokyo – and has been clocking up between 130 and 140 kilometres per week since.
‘It’s all set up to be a great adventure, and hopefully I can get that record,’ he told The West Australian before he left.
‘But at some point, even on day one, it’s going to start to suck and you need to press on.
‘I feel like the mental side of things is my superpower. I feel like I have an ignorance of my own physical suffering because of what I’ve been through emotionally with my Mum.
‘And I feel like I’ve turned what is pain into a powerful story, or the tagline I like to use is ’emotion equals energy’. If you can channel it towards something, and it doesn’t have to be physical, it’s a pretty full well from which to pull water and fuel.
The 31-year-old is now attempting beat a record of 39 days to run from Cottesloe to Bondi – set by Aussie Chris Turnbull
Goodge says running after the death of his mother felt like meditation and helped his mind to process everything he was facing
Goodge has raised thousands of dollars for cancer research with his endurance runs
‘Like anyone, after I did my first anything (it hurt). In my first ultra-marathon, which was 100kms, it was horrible. So, the foundations of having done this for six years have built up (tolerance).
‘When times get tough, which is quite frequent, I’ll think of her and other people who are fighting for their lives who haven’t chosen to be in that position. I’ve chosen to be in the position I’m in, so I feel like I don’t have a valid excuse to stop.’
Goodge is currently on day 16 of his run and in good spirits. On Tuesday he completed 111.84km in 13h35m.
He says the isolation of his monumental runs doesn’t get to him.
‘I do enjoy every day,’ he said.
‘I kinda like the madness of stuff, and the best moments for me are often when I’m totally on my own, isolated. No one is around, and there are no cameras, and there’s just me,’ he said.
William (pictured as a child with his mother) says he feels a strong connection with his mum while he’s out running
Goodge trained for his grueling event in Australia by running more than 500km from Japanese city Osaka to Tokyo
‘I feel a strong connection to my Mum out there, which is amazing. There’s a notable feeling in my head that it doesn’t matter how intelligent you are, how rich you are, where you’re from, or any of that stuff; you can only get that feeling in the moment by having done the work beforehand.
‘You can’t pay to have that feeling, and that’s probably why I keep going back and chasing it. It’s a special experience.
‘When you get to that point where your body’s going “I can’t take another step”, and in your mind, you go “no, we are going to”, you get a lot of internal strength from that, and you keep exercising that muscle you never know how far it can take you and that also transcends into other parts of life.’
Goodge is raising money for cancer charities in the UK, US and Australia. Donations can be made by following this link.
