Running for a tallest costume record!

Pounding London’s roads while dressed as the giant ‘superhero’ mascot of The Anthony Nolan Trust, the leg-weary Tim scored an official Guinness World Record for completing the marathon course in the tallest costume ever worn – in a strength-sapping six hours and 25 minutes.

And he’s hoping that Guinness will also soon recognise his costume %} for being the heaviest marathon costume worn too.

After completing the gruelling run around the streets of London, the 42-year-old from Chester said: ‘That was definitely the hardest one by a long way. It was my ninth Flora London Marathon in a row in fancy dress, but to be so far behind was a very different experience because the crowds were thinning out by the time I was getting there.’

Although the costume initially weighed in at around four stone, it in fact got progressively heavier as the rain fell throughout the day, and so the record breaker had the difficult task of supporting the weight all the way around – some of it directly on his head!

‘I had to hold the costume up to support it or it would topple over, so I had no running style or form whatsoever. The rain also made it heavier as the day progressed,’ he said.

‘Four large wing nuts kept the character’s head attached to the body – and as the race wore on, they gradually burrowed into my head! By mile four the first blood appeared, and at around six or seven miles I thought I’d had enough and wouldn’t be able to get around, but somehow things improved.

‘I’ve always run this event in fancy dress but this was the worst by far, and never have I felt so early that time might be up. I was probably one of the few to appreciate the rain because although the costume got heavier by the minute, it at least it kept me cool.

‘At Tower Bridge I thought my number was up, but the cuts went numb by mile 16 and I felt I had a chance and struggled through the last ten miles. As I went under the finishing gantry I snapped the daisy on top of the costume in half – but the end was a very welcome relief!’

Stringent rules laid down for the official record attempt stated that there was no opportunity to have a rest by pulling off the costume temporarily, or even stopping for an impromptu Paul Radcliffe-style ‘comfort break.’ But that never proved a problem despite Tim consuming plenty of fluid on the way round.

‘I drank the most phenomenal amount of fluid on the way round, having between 12-15 of the Lucozade energy pouches, when under normal circumstances I would have about four.

‘Running in that costume, I lost that much fluid that I didn’t really need to go to the loo, so thankfully it wasn’t a problem.’

Fitness fanatic Tim already holds the Guinness World Record for being the fastest man to run a marathon on all seven continents of the globe – his 1999 feat seeing him complete the challenge in 99 days. He even completed the Boston Marathon just six days before this year’s Flora London Marathon.

But he says no amount of preparation could have readied him for what he confronted on the day.

‘There is no amount of training that can prepare you for an experience like that. The weight distribution of the costume puts all manner of stresses on the body and affects how you run. For example I’ve come out afterwards with black toenails when I wouldn’t normally have,’ he said.