Guinness World Records has teamed up with the Virgin Money London Marathon for the ninth consecutive year to offer record verification on the day of the iconic race.
A huge 58 world records are being attempted this year, featuring a total of 68 runners, and a team of Guinness World Records adjudicators will be on hand to check costumes, verify times and confirm successful runners as official GWR title holders, earning them a place in the 2017 book.
Ahead of this year’s event, here below we detail six record attempts set to take place on the day.
Fastest marathon dressed as a 3-D dinosaur:
5 hours to beat
Ian Bates (45), a bus fleet engineer from Crawley, West Sussex, has sculpted arguably the finest costume ever to grace the circuit. The costume weighs 20kg and has taken 18 months to create – spectators will be running for the hills as he roars towards the Finish Line. Ian is raising money for St Catherine’s Hospice in Crawley.
Fastest marathon carrying a household appliance:
5 hours to beat
Phillip Box (30) has already run over 70 marathons and ultra-marathons, and having completed a personal goal of running 100 miles in under 24 hours last year, he decided strapping a tumble dryer to his back was the only way to keep pushing himself! Once the Virgin Money London Marathon is behind him, Phillip plans to conquer Snowdon with his affectionately named ‘Tumble’, who weighs in at 24kg. Phillip is raising money for Polycystic Kidney Disease research, an incurable condition from which his four-year-old nephew suffers.
Fastest marathon in a four-person costume:
6:30 to beat
Lee Small, James Lafferty, Michael Palmer and Stevie Clifford-Tucker, all firefighters from the London Fire Brigade will be displaying their superior coordination skills in their four-person fire engine, complete with working sirens. They are celebrating the 150th birthday of the London Fire Brigade and raising money for the Fire Fighters’ Charity.
Fastest marathon run by a parent and four children:
4:30 to beat
Ever wondered what to do to keep the kids busy at the weekend? Mark Midgley, a 50-year-old father of seven from Doncaster, is attempting this brand new Guinness World Records title with no fewer than four of his children! Jaimie, Daniel, Kyle and Taylor have all served in the armed forces. Jaimie was in the Royal Engineers, Daniel – the Royal Logistics Corp, Kyle – the Royal Marine and Taylor was in the Royal Air Force. Mark says deciding to run the marathon has brought his family closer together, and he is hoping to raise money for The Royal British Legion.
Fastest marathon in a full body animal costume (female):
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4:30 to beat
Gill Punt, a 45-year-old Development Officer at Chigwell School in Essex, has raised a whopping £250,000 for Cancer Research UK following the death of her father and she is running in a polar bear costume – the official mascot of Cancer Research UK.
Fastest marathon dressed as a book character (female):
3:39.49 to beat
Mother of three Lisa Wilkinson, from Reading, is running her 25th marathon this year. The 44-year-old has chosen to raise money for the charity Action on Hearing Loss in honour of her son who is deaf. She ran her first marathon in London in 1999 and has done so 15 times since, as well as clocking up the miles all over the world, including Berlin, New York and Boston. To celebrate her 25th marathon, she is running for a place in the Guinness World Records book as Snow White.
