The fastest marathon run by parent and child (mixed) is 5 hr 41 min 12 sec by Masako Kataoka and her son Tetsuro Kataoka (both Japan) at the 63rd Beppu Oita Mainichi Marathon in Beppu, Oita, Japan, on 2 February 2014. The Beppu Oita Mainichi Marathon is sanctioned by the Japan Association of Athletics Federations (JAAF). Tetsuro Kataoka completed the marathon in 2 hr 31 min 20 sec and Masako Kataoka completed it in 3 hr 9 min 52 sec.
Dale Lyons of Meriden, West Midlands, UK ran the London marathon while carrying a dessert spoon with a fresh egg on it in 3 hr 47 min on 23 April 1990.
Xu Zhenjun (China) ran the fastest backwards marathon by completing the Beijing International Marathon, China in a time of 3 hr 43 min 39 sec on 17 October 2004.
The fastest time to complete a marathon (26.2 miles) while skipping rather than running is 5 hr 55 min 13 sec by Ashrita Furman (USA) at the Comox Valley Roads marathon, Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada on 31 August 2003.
The record for the fastest marathon run whilst skipping with a rope is 4 hr 28 min 48 sec and was set by Chris Baron (Canada) at the ING Ottawa Marathon, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on 27 May 2007.
The fastest marathons by a married couple on the North and South Poles (aggregate) was 34 hr 55 min 08 sec by Krishna Chigurupati and Uma Chigurupati (both India) who ran the Antarctic Ice Marathon together on 15 December 2010 and the North Pole Marathon on 8 April 2011. Krishna, the husband, finished the Antarctic in 8 hr 27 min 26 sec, while Uma completed the race in 8 hr 16 min 22 sec. The couple completed the North Pole together in a time of
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The fastest marathon in armour is 6 hr 46 min 59 sec and was achieved by Peter Pedersen (Denmark) at the HC Andersen Marathon, Odense, Denmark, on 21 September 2008. Peter wore full medieval battle armour including boots, helmet, gauntlets and the total weight was 28 kg before and after the race.
The fastest marathon wearing an operational gas mask was 3 hr 28 min 38 sec by Andy McMahon (UK) at the 2012 Virgin London Marathon in London, UK, on 22 April 2012.
The fastest objects observed in the universe are blobs of superheated plasma, ejected from black holes in the cores of extremely active galaxies known as blazars. These blobs, with as much mass as the planet Jupiter, have been observed moving at 99.99% of the speed of light. According to Albert Einstein’s Theory of Special Relativity, the only thing capable of travelling at the speed of light, 299,792,458 m/s, is light itself. When matter is accelerated to significant fractions of the speed of light, it takes
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Dubbed the ‘Blade Runner’, Oscar Pistorius (South Africa) set the track alight at the 2008 Paralympics in Beijing, China, blazing his way to the 100 m, 200 m and 400 m titles and setting a 400 m record of 47.49 seconds on 16 September 2008. Born without his fibulae, Oscar had his legs amputated below the knees at 11 months old and today runs on carbon-fibre blades in the T44 class. He is now bidding to become the first amputee sprinter to compete at the
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