Worcestershire runner aiming to break world record for running marathon in full graduation clothing
Chris Garratt, who works at the University of Worcester, will be taking on the London Marathon in April and looking to beat the current record for a male of 3 hours, 31 minutes, and 11 seconds
A University of Worcester staff member is going to attempt to become the world’s fastest man to complete the London Marathon in full graduation attire this April.
50-year-old Chris Garratt from Kempsey, Worcestershire, will be running in a suit, trainers, along with the cap and gown, as he aims to break the current record of 3 hours, 31 minutes, and 11 seconds.
Our reporter Elliot Burrow joined him on a mile training run as he tried out running with the full outfit on for the first time...
Putting in the training
Wearing a navy blue check suit and trousers, a tie, running trainers, along with a graduation gown and cap, Chris Garratt is ready to run for the first time in the attire he's aiming to break a Guinness World Record in just three months time.
"At the moment I was feeling confident, but we'll find out in the next 10 minutes," he said as he's applying the finishing touches to the clothing before setting off.
This isn't the first time Chris is going for a world record, he was the previous record holder for being the fastest man to run a half marathon dressed as a lumberjack, which has now been broken.
He'll be aiming to beat a time of 3 hours, 31 minutes, and 11 seconds for this challenge, which saw the current record set back in 2018 by Graham Tapp at the Chester marathon.
Chris is deputy chief information officer at the University of Worcester, working there for nearly 30 years and he's taking on the record attempt for more than just the goal of breaking it as he'll also be fundraising.
"Basically I've done a bit of fundraising across time, I've been running for a few years but this one is particularly close to me because it is for the University of Worcester where I work," he said.
"I'll be running for the student scholarship and hardship fund, and what that does is it raises money for students who might need sort of extra funds for their studies.
"They might need it because they're out on practice as part of the health-based courses for example and as part of that it just helps really."
Experienced runner
Alongside his previous world record and this one, Chris also completed 50 miles in 12 hours during the Covid-19 lockdown by running 2,500 laps of his house to raise money for the NHS.
His latest attempt has been formally accepted by Guinness World Records, and as we approach the end of the run he said how his first time out in the graduation clothes had been an experience.
"There's a lot going on, I'm wearing a robe and a cape and a hat, so I'm just trying to figure out how to keep it all in place which is interesting," he said with a smile.
"We've only done less than a mile and I've obviously got to do 26 so at this moment it feels like I've got to do a few adjustments to the outfit but I'm confident, well, hopefully confident we can do it if that's such a thing.
"I'm aiming to try and do the marathon in 3 hours, 30 minutes so it's quite a lot of training for that, I should be doing about 60 to 70 miles a week and then closer to the time I definitely will be practising with the outfit.
"So I'll be going to my local parkrun, trying it out, getting used to people laughing at me and things like that."
The London Marathon takes place on the 26 April.