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Edmonton man chases world record wearing 120 T-shirts during half-marathon

After his previous world record did not get official approval, Edmonton's David Eliuk did it again, but this time wearing 120 T-shirts...

David Eliuk guinness world record Photo by: David Eliuk

Racing a half-marathon is hard enough, but after David Eliuk of Edmonton’s previous T-shirt world record attempt did not get official approval from Guinness World Records, he decided to bulk up to accomplish the feat again—wearing 120 T-shirts.

Eliuk crossed the finish line at Sunday’s Hypothermic Half Marathon in Edmonton in two hours and 45 minutes, nine minutes slower than his time at the same event in 2022, when he wore 90 T-shirts.

 

 
 
 
 
 
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His time from last year would have made him the record holder, but his attempt and record submission took too long to process—plus the record was eventually beaten by U.S. runner David Rush, who wore 111 T-shirts during the Idaho Potato Half Marathon last May.

“Guinness takes about 12 weeks to process the evidence, but for a fee, the procedure can be only a few days,” says Eliuk. 

Coming into Sunday’s attempt, the new record to beat was 112 T-shirts.

The biggest issue for Eliuk was his mobility and blood flow. “Early in the race, I was having circulation issues,” says Eliuk. “It was very uncomfortable. My support team had to make some adjustments to solve the problem.”

“I found the half-marathon difficult while only wearing two shirts, so I could not imagine 60 times as difficult with 120,” said another half-marathon participant to Edmonton news.

David Eliuk
(Photo provided by David Eliuk)

Eliuk is no stranger to running and pushing the boundaries of human performance; he has a marathon PB of 2:59, previously completed several Ironman triathlons and ran the windy, rainy Boston Marathon in 2018. He describes this T-shirt challenge as one of the toughest things he’s done. 

Once again, Eliuk set up a GoFundMe to raise funds for charity.

Eliuk hopes his record of 120 T-shirts will stand for a long time. 

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