Man Completes Marathon in Snail Costume, Takes 26 Days
Setting what is perhaps the world’s record for slowest marathon competitor ever, a 49 year-old British man from Essex finished the London Marathon in 26 days. Of course, this was probably due to fact that the man, former professional footballer, Lloyd Scott, completed the race facedown on a metal sled while dressed in a giant snail costume.
Averaging a mile a day on the 26.2-mile course, Scott claims he suffered from constant nosebleeds, pains, vomiting, and cramps. At one point he was even rushed to the hospital to have the blood vessels in his nose cauterized and often got sick inside of the costume because he had difficulty digesting food properly.
During the day he would “crawl” for eight hours—the equivalent of one mile— through the streets, coming face-to-face, literally, with debris such broken glass, nails, rotting food, and dog doo.
When he finally crossed the finish line nearly a month after the race began, he claimed, “That’s not an experience I want to repeat.”
Scott, who was is a leukemia survivor, has been running the London Marathon since his recovery in 1990 and has raised more than 5 million pounds for various charities.
The funds raised for this most current race will be donated to Action For Kids, an organization that that helps children with mobility issues. In keeping with the theme of the charity, Scott decided to dress up as Brian the Snail, a character from a 2005 children’s film called the Magic Roundabout. His goal was to raise 200,000 pounds, but he says he has only managed to raise a tenth of that so far.
Although Scott claims this has been his toughest marathon yet, it appears as if the philanthropist enjoys testing the limits of his body for potentially little pay-off. In the past he has ran marathons while wearing a 130-pound antique diving suit, a suit of armor, and an Indiana Jones costume replete with a mock boulder that he dragged throughout the course of the race. He has also competed in an underwater marathon in Loch Ness and cycled across Australia on a penny-farthing to raise money for a charity. To date he has had 20 operations, including two hip replacements, due to the stress that his fundraising has put on his body.
Final comment: being charitable is great, but why take it to such extremes? Wasn’t a bone marrow transplant enough?