Morris dancing dad wins marathon world record

A man from East Sussex has broken the world record for the fastest marathon dressed as a Morris dancer.

Rhys Boorman, from Hastings, completed the London Marathon on 26 April in two hours, 42 minutes and 51 seconds, breaking the previous record by more than an hour.

His win has just been announced by Guinness World Records after they sought proof he had run the whole race in his Hastings RX Morris kit because Rhys had missed their deadline for notification of his record attempt.

But the speedy runner had a very good reason for being late - his baby daughter Eleri had been born on the same day.

"I needed to notify Guinness World Record organisers of my attempt by 13 February to have it adjudicated on the day of the race," he said.

"But my attention was elsewhere as my wife Rhiannon gave birth to our second baby, Eleri, on 13 February.

"Eleri had arrived two weeks late, and so I missed the notification deadline," he said.

"I appealed to spectators to provide proof, and they did. I was able to show evidence from the start and finish lines, and from numerous points around the course."

He thanked everyone for their support.

"I am proud to have broken the world record by so much and to have completed the course so quickly, especially as my wife Rhiannon, and both my children Gwendolyn and Eleri were watching me," he said.

"I am so pleased to have made it into the Guinness Book of World Records."

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