Outpost of the Odd’s London Marathon Roundup
Some love the circus midway, but here we love the sideshows. Here are links to the weird and wonderful from Sunday’s London Marathon:
* The London race is the top destination for those desiring a strange Guinness world record, including Fastest Marathon in a Two-Person Pantomime Costume.
* The pantomime horse outran London Evening Standard columnist David Cohen, who wins our vote for best pre-race preparation:
I went to bed early, having watched the film 127 Hours — about a man who saws off his arm with a blunt penknife when a boulder falls on him — to get me in the mood, but I was so excited I couldn’t sleep until 5am.
* Best Obscure Factoid – Six percent of race entrants were teachers. How do they know that? Are you required to list your occupation when you register? I hope not, because…
* …the marathon web site accidentally allowed anyone access to the home address and e-mails of every participant, including (gasp!) celebrities like Gordon Ramsay.
* Dawn Williams lost a running shoe in the crowd at the start and was forced to borrow one from a spectator. She finished in 3:45.
* 101-year-old Fauja Singh completed the race in 7:50 and promptly retired from marathoning. What? And give up guaranteed age-group awards?
* The London Marathon is famous for its fancy dress participants. The Mirror has a nice photo gallery, including this guy in full Stormtrooper gear.
That Stormtrooper get-up may be the work of the original designer who won a lawsuit last year against George Lucas to continue selling the replicas in the U.K., but not in the U.S.
Ref.: http://io9.com/5825500/george-lucas-loses-lawsuit-over-stormtrooper-costume-replicas
The Brits are insane. That helmet does NOT seem like it’d be comfy for 26.2 miles. I do like the belt, though. You could fit quite a few Power Bars and gels in there.
Also, the guy next to him looks fairly horrified. It sucks to get passed by someone wearing 60 pounds of extraneous crap.
You are asked what your occupation is when registering for New York…which reminds me! Today is the day they do the lottery for New York!