Seventy-two hours ago, athlete and author Ross Edgley was recovering in hospital after his world record attempt ultra-marathon swim was stopped by heat stroke. Seventy-two seconds ago, by his own estimation, Chris Hemsworth was having lunch.

The long-time friends spoke on stage at GQ Heroes 2023 in partnership with BMW as a little minute surprise – Hemsworth sitting on the other side of the table for once, taking the role of interviewer. Watch out, GQ writers — he was bloody good at it.

“I first came across Ross, probably, six or seven years ago. He started showing up on my Instagram feed, doing all of these insane things,” Hemsworth recalled. “Insane things” — like an ultra-marathon swim in Italy’s Lake Trasimeno that saw him hospitalised just three days ago, then?

Hemsworth’s next question was the one on everyone’s mind. Why on earth does Edgley do these insane things? The 37-year-old, well-trained in mind and body, recalled the Sisyphus myth — the one where a Greek guy is doomed to push a boulder up a hill for eternity after he annoyed Zeus. The swims aren’t his divine punishment, though. “In many ways, Sisyphus is an absurd hero, because the struggle alone is enough to fill one’s heart,” Edgley said. “This is why I do these crazy things. It’s my boulder.” It’s a way of thinking about endurance and fitness that Hemsworth said had helped him to overcome the pain barrier himself during their time training together.

Besides Greek mythology, Edgley said doing it for charity certainly helps. “In those dark moments, if it’s for charity, if it’s for a higher purpose, it really motivates you,” Edgley said. The world record attempt in Italy was his second to come just short, but he isn’t deterred. “If we go for a third attempt and it’s not successful, there’ll be a fourth,” Edgley said.