Idaho Man Sets Ridiculous Half Marathon Record
As Joey Tribbiani once famously said in Friends while imitating Chandler, "Could I be wearing any more clothes?" An Idaho man set a new half marathon record...but it had nothing to do with his time, and everything to do with what he was wearing. David Rush ran the YMCA Famous Idaho Potato Marathon at Lucky Peak State Park Sandy Point wearing 111 t-shirts. That's not a typo. One-hundred and eleven t-shirts. 111! Now, my first question is...would that help prevent chaffing or only lead to more chaffing?
Rush has broken more than 200 Guinness World Records to promote STEM education. David said it took him and his support team about 25 minutes to put all 111 shirt on. According to report, his run broke the Guinness World Record for most shirts worn during a half marathon. Before his 111, the previous record was 82 shirts set by a British runner named David Smith last November. What's with Davids and too many shirts?
Lucky for David Rush, it was a cool day during the marathon so he didn't have to worry about overheating. However, he did have to deal with the fact that the 111 shirts he was wearing added 40 pounds of weight to his body. Rush said, "My arms lost circulation and after a couple of hours my hands swelled to what felt like twice the size, my normally loose wedding ring was a constricted ring, and I couldn't even touch my thumb across my hand."
Personally, I've never ran a marathon. Never ran a half marathon. Never even broke a Guinness World Record. However, I have walked a 5K, so I know a little bit about what he was going through. It couldn't have been pleasant. Not to mention, he was doing it for a great cause raising awareness for STEM education. I can't let his work and efforts go to waste, so I could mention STEM is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Awareness, baby. Happy to help raise awareness in my single t-shirt from my comfortable bed.
Below, I've shared some pictures from David's race while wearing 111 t-shirts. Keep scrolling to watch a video of him doing the run and preparing for it! Would you be able to do this? I don't think I'd be able to make it a mile. It's crazy what he was able to do...and the time he was able to run it in!