A British runner who had never run a marathon before claims to have broken the world record for running a marathon in Crocs. And he filmed the whole attempt for his YouTube channel.
Chris Howett finished the Manchester Marathon last month in under three hours whole wearing a bright yellow pair of croslite clogs adorned with a red Lightning McQueen charm – not exactly what most elite athletes would call a supershoe. At least he made use of the heel strap.
The existing record was 3hr 2min 41sec set by another Brit, Jonathan Warner in Chichester, West Sussex, UK, on 12 February 2023. Howett beat that time by four minutes and 17 seconds. He must have had an amazing first marathon training plan.
However, Guinness World Records has yet to officially ratify this new record of 2hr 58min 24sec, which could take a few more weeks. But hey, Howett has a pretty good visual record of the event, so we’d be surprised if his new record claim doesn’t stand.
“I mean, who would be stupid enough to try to run a marathon in Crocs?” says Howett in the video. “That person would be me.”
Although he’s new to marathons, Howett does reveal that he used to be a competitive runner, “reaching as high as National Finals in the 1,500m. But after getting so many brutal injuries year after year I quit running competitively and gave up my goal of becoming an Olympian and ultimately my dream of breaking a world record. Which is why this meant so much to me.
“Okay it may have been in Crocs but it's still a world record. So despite this pain I was going through I was going to fight through and try to achieve my childhood dream.”
One of the great pleasures of watching the complete 14 minute video is all the people – runners and in the crowd – who do double takes as they pass Howett (or he passes them) then immediately give him some encouragement.
“You must have shins of steel!” reckons one of his aghast competitors.
It seems “Chris in Crocs”’ became an instant legend that day. Never give up on your dreams. Just add some Crocs into the mix.
- The best road running shoes 2024: hit the streets at speed (Crocs don’t make the list, for some reason…)
