U.K. runner breaks marathon record wearing Crocs

Fourth time’s a charm! That was the U.K.’s Tommy Trees‘ mindset as he made his fourth attempt to put his name in the Guinness Book of World Records–and finally, he came out successful. At Sunday’s London Marathon, Trees put his Crocs into sport mode and clocked 2:48:48, surpassing the previous record for the fastest marathon wearing foam clogs.

Trees’ performance is one of 41 new world records set at this year’s race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Mike Trees (@run.nrg)

Over the past year, the record for fastest marathon in Crocs had been broken four times. The most recent record, 2:49:21, was set in January by Adelaide, Australia’s Dan Camac.

The London race marked Trees’ twelfth marathon–and followed three failed attempts to break the record for fastest marathon dressed as Santa Claus, which stands at 2:33:23. Trees ran his marathon personal best of 2:29:41 at December’s Valencia Marathon.

In November, he shifted his focus from dressing as Santa to chasing records in Crocs after seeing another runner take on the challenge on social media. Trees set out targeting a time of 2:45–wearing bright pink foam clogs he had only ever run in once before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Tommy Trees (@coachtommy.nrg)

“I knew I had to bank time on that first half as the cramping and foot pain was inevitable in the later stage of the race,” Trees wrote on Instagram. “From 28 km onwards, my quads were just completely locked up–I had to transition to a walk/run method. I’ve done more than 12 marathons and I’ve never walked before, so it was a humbling experience!”