Now that I've had some sleep, I can clearly think about what's really going on here.
This whole event was planned from beginning to end. The announcements, the large cash drops, the reveal, all of it was planned. This "fundraiser" wasn't about money, but it was really about feeding his ego and scoring a win against the "detractors". Nothing more.
In the months before this event, he had a series of failed events, including a few failed fundraisers and a dwindling subscriber base. His viewership has been going down for several months since his surprise marriage. Phil's ego needed a boost.
Enter the few supporters that Phil has. I suspect that the reason why Phil put the sub goal back up is that he had his supporters contact him and tell him that they'd be willing to provide the subs, and Phil planned out this whole thing where the subs would be gifted at the last moment, making it look like he swiped victory from the jaws of defeat.
The same thing happened with this marathon. Supporters wanted to give him a large amount of money behind the scenes. Phil then made this whole event up. He had the cat, and he had the pledges. He had this idea to do this marathon with this rather high goal. For most of the event, it'd look like Phil wasn't going to make it. Then, before the event ended, Phil sends the signal to his supporters to bring in their money, including PlanetJeff. No matter what happened in the first 7 hours, he was going to win.
This event wasn't about getting money. That was going to come no matter what. This was about his own ego and getting a win over his detractors. Nothing more or less.
Phil's being a manipulator again, and he's manipulating us and others not involved. He wants to be seen as a winner, and this whole event was going to set him up.
I fully expect him to deny this and strawman this. He's going to laugh at this and as well he should. He succeeded at setting himself as the winner. Although not without burning goodwill from the few supporters who weren't in on this little scam. He is, after all, Phil "Burning Bridges" Burnell.
The part that gets me is that he's going to get away with it once again without anyone in a position of authority over him bringing him to account. He's going to laugh all the way to the bank and no one in Youtube or Twitch is going to care. His viewership may drop a bit more now, but he's not going to care. He's got his win and fed his ego.