Salisbury man helps set Guinness World Record at London Marathon

James Read, 45, along with nine other runners, set a new record for the fastest marathon in a ten-person costume, completing the route in six hours, 32 minutes and five seconds dressed as a red London bus and beating the previous record by approximately 23 minutes.

James said the event on Sunday, April 21 was the first marathon he had ever run and by far the furthest he had ever run.

The other members of the team included Frances Walker, Petr Maslov, Aileen Rice-Jones, Daniel Smith, Alex Weight, Kate Rham, Cameron Sharpe and Michael Edwards.

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James Read of Salisbury joined nine others to set a Guinness World Record at the London Marathon for the fastest marathon in a 10-person costume. (Image: James Read)

James was inspired to run the marathon along with his friend, Jackie Scully, 42, of Greenwich, who runs a content marketing agency in London and has been breast cancer-free for 10 years.

James has known Jackie for eight years, as a client of his web design company, Giant Peach. Jackie has also spoken at leadership events hosted by Giant Peach.

James said: “She’s quite an inspiration.”

James Read of Salisbury joined nine others to set a Guinness World Record at the London Marathon for the fastest marathon in a 10-person costume. (Image: James Read)

James said he never expected to be the recipient of a Guinness World Record.

He said: “It’s pretty cool. Of all the certificates I’ve got up on my wall- there’s not many people who can say they’re a world record holder.”

The team raised nearly £36k to be distributed between Breast Cancer Now, Macmillan Cancer Support and the Willow Foundation.