A 27-year-old man from Birmingham is attempting to break four world records, for the fastest half marathon times wearing a variety of fancy dress costumes. James Drakeford, a magazine editor who lives in central Birmingham, has already set a new world record time for a half marathon wearing a graduation gown, which he set in June at the Liverpool Rock n Roll Marathon.
After the Great North Run and Cardiff half marathon, his record-breaking mission will conclude with the Morrisons Great Birmingham Run on 18th October, which he’ll tackle dressed in a three-piece suit.
James said: “This final challenge will be the hardest. It’s actually a really hard time to beat so I’m having to put a lot of training in for the Morrisons Great Birmingham Run. My best time is only ten minutes less than the existing record of 01:39:50, and I didn’t run that in a three-piece suit!”
The idea came to James when he was having a celebratory drink following the Rock n Roll Madrid Marathon in April 2014, his first ever serious running event.
“I realised that I was quite good at long distance running and thought I might as well try and break a few world records whilst I’m at it. So here I am!”
James is fundraising for two charities: local charity LoveBrum, and Diabetes UK.
James explained: “I’m fundraising for LoveBrum because the work they do for the city is fantastic. Birmingham is my adopted home, I moved there from Nuneaton, and I really want to do what I can to support the city.
“I’m also fundraising for Diabetes UK because this year my little brother was diagnosed with the condition (aged 17). He had to make a considerable amount of changes to his lifestyle,” James added.
