Guy Cockroft’s bid to set new London Marathon record as cartoon character (From This is Hampshire)

Guy Cockroft’s bid to set new London Marathon record as cartoon character

2:34pm Saturday 25th April 2009 in

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EVERY year they come dressed up as superheroes, cartoon favourites and characters from stage and screen.

Tomorrow’s London Marathon will be no different, featuring hundreds of runners in fancy dress.

But one Hampshire man is hoping to stand out from the crowd – and set a new world record at the same time.

Guy Cockroft wants to set the fastest marathon time for a runner dressed as a cartoon character.

With a tall red and white hat, matching bow tie and a pair of white gloves, the 28-year-old will tackle the 26-mile slog as Dr Seuss’ Cat in the Hat.

Guy, a barman, of Manor Farm Lane, Romsey, said: “I got the idea to dress up while I was on a stag do.

“I was talking to my friend about running the marathon and he asked why I didn’t try it in fancy dress.

“The seed was sown from there and so I thought why not? I looked into it a little bit to see what the record was and I have to beat four hours 30 minutes. I thought ‘yeah, I can do that’.”

Guy has run a marathon once before but had to walk the last part after developing painful shin splints.

However he is confident he will be able to finish the marathon in just under four hours tomorrow.

He added: “I’ve told myself I’m going to do it but I think half the battle is psychological.

“The training has been going quite well but my friends have had a right laugh about me going through with it.”

Damian Field, a spokesman for Guinness World Records, told the Daily Echo that there was no current record for the category that Guy will attempt tomorrow as it had just been introduced.

He said: “The minimum for this record has been set at four hours and 30 minutes.

“Guy is a fantastic character and we would like to wish him the best of luck in his record attempt.”