Wiltshire man aiming to break world record at Bristol half marathon
Gary MacAlister will be trying to break the record for the fastest male to complete a half marathon dressed as a three-dimensional aircraft
A Wiltshire man is attempting to break a world record at the Bristol Half Marathon next month, in a bid to raise money for the Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance charity.
Gary MacAlister will be aiming to set a new record as the fastest male to complete a half marathon dressed as a three-dimensional aircraft.
The record currently stands at two hours and eight minutes.
Gary, 46, will run the half marathon dressed as the Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance, which has been named the 'Garycopter'.
Gary, who works for Utilities Contractor, Steve Vick, in Bradford-on-Avon, told Greatest Hits Radio that the idea stemmed during a work Christmas party.
"We'd just come off the back of doing something for the Wiltshire and Bath Air Ambulance, so they were fresh in our mind. We looked this record up and thought 'that's do-able'," he said.
Gary, who lives in Trowbridge, said he regularly sees the air ambulance flying so he knows how much the charity needs support from the public.
He admitted that the costume has taken some fine tuning because it was clipping his legs when he started running, but it's now well balanced and doesn't interfere with his movement.
Gary says he's confident he can beat the record.
"In the test runs I've been doing, which are 5km, I've been going under 25 minutes, so if I can replicate four lots of 5k, we're going to be about one hour and 45 minutes.
"Barring absolute disaster, we've got a bit of a buffer to play with," he said.
Gary is aiming to raise £2,000 for the charity and says breaking the record would be a "fantastic" personal achievement.
The half marathon takes place on 11th May.
We can support Gary's fundraising efforts here.