April 17, 2022 8.00 am This story is over 23 months old

World record holding ex-Marine going for marathon glory after half-distance success

“I’ve got the semi-skimmed record, I want the full fat one now”
Collin Harrison, 47, basking in the glory after breaking his second and third world records in two weeks. | Photo: Scottish Half Marathon
By Local Democracy Reporter

A triple world record-holding ex-Royal Marine from Lincolnshire is again embarking on a monstrous feat by taking on a full marathon world record attempt with heavy loads on his back.

Collin Harrison, 47, from Dunston, made it into the news last year when he broke three world records in two weeks, becoming the fastest man in the world to run a half-marathon with 60, 80 and 100lb weights on his back in just two races.

He broke the 60lb record in Southampton in September with a time of 1:54:34, before breaking the 80 and 100lb record at the Scottish half marathon just two weeks later, beating both records in the same run with 100lbs on his back.

He did so in a time of 2:11:38 – over an hour quicker than the 100lb record and close to 20 minutes faster than the 80lb record.

Collin trained for 21 months for the event, and wasn’t going to let anything get in his way. | Photo: Scottish Half Marathon

Most people would settle for this glory, but not Collin. In his words, he wants “the full fat” world record after achieving the “semi-skimmed” ones last year, and he will embark on full marathon records later in 2022.

Collin has been training for around two and a half years for these challenges, inspired by a rejection from reapplication to the Marines in which he was told he was too old to come back – triggering a determination in Collin to prove that age is just a number.

He will be running the Edinburgh Marathon in May, aiming to become the first man in history to break the 80lb and 100lb pack world record runs in the same marathon race.

The current world record, according to Guinness, is six hours, 27 minutes and 59 seconds, achieved by American William Kocken, while the 80lb record belongs to Michael Barker, who ran five hours 43 minutes and 24 seconds at the London Marathon in 2016.

Collin is raising money for The Royal Marines Charity and Children With Cancer UK by taking on this challenge, and you can donate to his fundraiser by visiting the Just Giving page.

Physically and mentally gruelling, but Collin proves that age is just a number. | Photo: Scottish Half Marathon

Collin told The Lincolnite: “I’ve put in the work and done all I can, it’s in the hands of the gods now. Anything can go wrong on these runs, for example, when I ran the half marathon last year my shoulder strap broke, so I had to run three miles with all the weight on one shoulder, and still managed to break the record.

“I’m under strict instruction from my wife that this is the last time, and with there being no bigger distances or heavier weights for me to go for after this I’m inclined to agree with her!

“It’s over two years in the making so I am confident I can get it done. The 100lb one is in the bag as far as I’m concerned, the 80lb record will be more difficult as there is a 43 minute gap between the two world records, so I need everything to fall into place on the day.”