Being surprised with your very own Guinness World Records title sounds like a pretty sweet deal!
And that’s exactly what marathon runner Alan Falle did for his pal Scott Welsh (both UK).
The Jersey, Channel Islands natives celebrated Alan’s recovery from an injury with Scott’s help by running the Jersey Marathon in St Helier… dressed as ice creams!
And as they passed the finish line together at 3 hr 48 min 12 sec, little did Scott know that they’d just secured the record for fastest marathon dressed as a sweet food (male).
Alan secretly applied to us so he could thank Scott in style, by making sure he knew he was the best in the world at something.
PE teacher Alan, who is Head of Sixth Form at Victoria College in Jersey, first met Scott, a personal trainer at the island’s Funktion Fitness, through football.
After playing against each other for rival teams, they grew close after Alan, 32, ruptured his Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) and worked with 30-year-old Scott on his rehabilitation.
Becoming fast friends and bonding over their love of ice cream, they set themselves the challenge of finding the best ice cream available in Jersey.
After trying as many varieties as they could find on the island, they got to talking about how else they could celebrate their love of ice cream.
Alan told us: “We spent the best part of a Jersey summer travelling around the island, eating Jersey soft-serve ice creams. Hardly a chore!
“That's where the outfit idea came from, but the marathon was just one run out of many in my challenge to run 2022 km (1256.4 mi) in 2022, raising funds and awareness for a local charity called the Grace Crocker Family Support Foundation, who provide emotional and financial support for Jersey families with children who require medical care off-island.
“I raised over £12,500 in total, and the biggest fundraiser was the marathon which Scott and I received a lot of support for.”
The 2022 marathon on 2 October wasn’t Alan’s first, but it was Scott’s. And despite him being a newbie, Alan says he wouldn’t have got through it on the day if it wasn’t for Scott’s encouragement along the way.
They don’t have plans to run any other marathons at the minute, but Alan says they’ll be keeping a close eye on the Guinness World Records website, as if someone breaks their record, they’ll be busting the ice cream costumes out once more in a bid to take it back.
On surprising his pal with the record, Alan said: “I felt that it would be nice to involve Scott in what was almost the final component of my year-long challenge.
“He had played a huge role in getting me into a position, physically, to be able to take something like that on.”
Thanks to Scott, Alan ended up averaging over 6 km a day from January to 6 November, when he completed his challenge of running 2022 km in a year.
He said it was a “significant undertaking” after having the ligaments in his knee reconstructed.
“Were it not for the support of Scott and Funktion Fitness, I never would have been able to take it on,” Alan said. “It was only right for Scott to be involved in some way in those closing stages, completing his first marathon in the process.
“Scott and I were both thrilled when confirmation arrived that we'd obtained the record, and we hope it will stay in place for some time! It's something unique that we can both be proud of.”
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