Aussie man aiming to run 252km in 24 hours in 'mother of all torture tests'

Meet the man who spends his days running around in circles – literally. Joe Ward is a 44-year-old ultra-marathoner from Sydney who weaned himself off cigarettes and grog to take up running in a bid to get fit.

Over the past decade, he's tackled some of the world's most gruelling events - but his next assignment is the mother of all torture tests. Next month Ward and competitors from more than 50 countries will run non-stop for 24 hours in the IAU (International Association of Ultrarunners) World Championship in Chinese Taipei.

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The gun will fire at 10am on December 1 and the runner who clocks up the most kilometres by 10am the following day will be declared the winner. There will be also a men's and women's teams event, with the three longest distances run by squad members tallied up to form each country's final count.

So, what makes someone put themselves through such intense mental and physical pain? For Ward, it was the day he woke up feeling disgusted by himself.

"I was a 30-a-day smoker back in the day. I used to drink and smoke and back and go to nightclubs and stay up all night," he told Yahoo Sport Australia. "I remember tapping a cigarette at the back door of my mum's the morning after one night out and she was saying to me: 'You hate that. You hate smoking? You hate that habit? Why are you doing it?'

"I just felt trapped in my own body. I felt super unhealthy. I was overweight. My lungs weren't working properly and I was coughing all the time. I wanted to change quite desperately. So, I kind of swapped a bad habit for a good habit. Now I stay awake all night running as opposed to staying awake all night in the club and drinking Red Bulls and vodka."

To add to the pain and torment, the World Championship circuit is a continual 2km loop on a flat asphalt pavement around a riverside park. This is no Forrest Gump-like scenic route – just 24 hours on rinse and repeat. Ward aims to clock up 252km in 24 hours.

Joe Ward's preparation for 'crazy' event

His preparation has involved running around a cricket oval in Sydney's north several times a week for up to four hours at a time, with occasional shots of caffeine to stoke the engine and Panadol Extra to dull any soreness. As far as mental preparation, he leans on a Disney classic.

"I call it the Elsa principle…let it go, let it go," Ward explained. "If you carry things with you in your mind it will drive you completely nuts. I find if you can get into a headspace of unstoppable joy, that's a really happy place to be.

"If you sit down at the doctor and they give you some bad news, that's pretty tough. Running in circles in the sunshine while watching a bit of cricket is not so bad. What we do is very niche, very crazy, but it's funny how you find what you're good at in life." Australia has entered a 12-person team – six male and six female runners – and is rated a strong medal chance in both the individual and teams' events.

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