Mr Potato Head chips in with record time

A Borders runner has s-mashed a marathon world record dressed as Mr Potato Head.
Record-breaker Bob Johnson (right) with clubmate Marcus DAgrosa, who completed the marathon with a new personal best.Record-breaker Bob Johnson (right) with clubmate Marcus DAgrosa, who completed the marathon with a new personal best.
Record-breaker Bob Johnson (right) with clubmate Marcus DAgrosa, who completed the marathon with a new personal best.

Gala Harrier Bob Johnson almost became a baked potato as he braved sweltering temperatures to complete the London Marathon in a time of 4:59.30, peeling 30 seconds off the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon dressed as a three-dimensional toy.

This was Bob’s second attempt at the record – last year he completed the marathon in the costume just 19 minutes over the five-hour record.

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As the costume was solid, with very little ventilation, Bob had to endure difficult conditions, as temperatures in London soared to a marathon record high of 23.2 degrees centigrade.

During his challenging attempt, Bob tweeted: “I’m a baked potato with extra blood, sweat and tears!”

After crossing the line in record time, he revealed the difficult conditions he faced: “I broke the record with only 30 seconds to spare! My left knee hurt for 10 miles, followed by a little cramp in my left hamstring.

“I had to run the last three miles as fast as possible, but all’s well that ends well!”

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His large, colourful costume was made mostly from papier mache and weighed over 10 kgs. With limited space to move and with only an inch gap to see through, water and energy gels had to be passed up from his knees.

Bob was also raising money for the charity Afghanaid. He said: “The Afghan people have endured decades of hardship and Afghanaid works hard to provide education, water and sanitation services, and community infrastructure projects such as hospitals, roads and bridges, to empower communities and help themto shape their own development.”

For more information about Afghanaid or to donate money towards the cause, you can visit Bob’s Virgin Money fundraiser page.