13 Wacky World Records Set at the Toronto Marathon Weekend
The races featured everything from a speedy Lucille Ball to a sprinting poop emoji.
For the eighth consecutive year, Guinness World Records partnered with the Toronto Waterfront Marathon—a full weekend of races each October, including a half and full marathon—to set as many running-related records as possible. Last year, the event set four new records, including by several runners who set new ones this past weekend. This year, runners applied to have the chance to officially break 18 different records, and 13 were successful. Check out latest batch of wild, wacky, and seriously impressive world record-holding runners.
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Fastest half marathon carrying golf clubs
Set by: Robert Winckler
Time: 1:57:58
Winckler already held Guinness-certified world records for the fastest half marathon dressed as a cowboy and a swimmer (male). He ran for Canadian charity Kids Help Phone.
Fastest half marathon dressed as a chef (male)
Set by: Daniel Janetos
Time: 1:27:50
Janetos, broke his own record from 2017’s race in Toronto (1:34:53) by nearly seven minutes. He ran for Canada’s National Wildlife Rehabilitation Foundation.
Fastest half marathon dressed as a television character (female)
Set by: Pamela Bottos
Time: 1:56:48
Pamela Bottos, dressed as Lucille Ball, ran for Breast Foot Forward, in memory of her sister-in-law, Pepper.
Fastest half marathon dressed as a video game character (female)
Set by: Jean Oh
Time: 1:35:56
Dressed as Nintendo character Yoshi, Oh overcame a recent traumatic brain injury to set her record.
Fastest half marathon dressed as a zookeeper
Set by: Bridget Burns
Time: 2:04:46
Burns already held three other records (a fourth has since been beaten) for half marathons as a boxer and in motocross gear, and a full marathon as a zookeeper. She ran for the Friends of High Park Zoo, a zoo in Toronto.
Fastest half marathon dressed as an emoji (male)
Set by: Bradley Vincent
Time: 1:38:14
Vincent created his poop emoji costume himself.
(Find out what it’s like to run a half marathon, told solely by emojis).
Fastest half marathon dressed in an ice hockey kit (male)
Set by: Evan Latsky
Time: 1:39:50
Fastest half marathon in a two-person costume
Set by: Petro Czupiel and Andrey Czupiel
Time: 2:09:27
Petro set his first world record in last year’s event for fastest half marathon dressed as a clown. This year he invited his brother, Andrey, to join him. The two dressed as Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble in their classic Flintstone car.
Fastest half marathon joggling with three objects (male)
Set by: Michael-Lucien Bergeron
Time: 1:17:09
Bergeron was inspired by the previous record-setting attempt in 2014 by Michal Kapral. He hoped to show younger runners the sport can be fun.
Fastest half marathon pushing two double prams (female)
Set by: Julie Hillis
Time: 2:04:59
Hillis pushed her four children—Duncan Sarah, Maggie, and Isa—simultaneously in two strollers to set her record. She hopes it sends a message to her kids on the importance of physical fitness, goal-setting, and healthy living.
Fastest half marathon with four runners handcuffed together (male)
Set by: Kyle Pastor, Marco Pelayo, David Duarte, and Christopher Hoeppler
Time: 2:00:28
Fastest marathon dressed as a battery (male)
Set by: Blaine Penny
Time: 2:59:57
Penny is the cofounder of MitoCanada, and ran to bring awareness to his organization’s missions of supporting those affected by mitochondrial disease and promoting public awareness around the issue.
Fastest marathon with two runners handcuffed together (male)
Set by: Victor Frève-Boucher and Freüd Fortier-Chouinard
Time: 3:15:42
The duo’s first marathon was dedicated to helping the charity Fondation Élan.
Jacob joined Runner’s World and Bicycling as an editorial fellow after graduating from Northwestern University in 2018, where he studied journalism. His work focuses mainly on news and service pieces for both audiences, with the occasional foray into longer feature work and product reviews. He especially loves to highlight the journeys of unique runners and riders doing amazing things in their communities.
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