26th April 2010
Hooky Pint sets world record in London Marathon and raise money for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research
The Hooky Pint, aka Gill Begnor broke the world record for the fastest time for a woman dressed as a bottle to run a marathon.
Hook Norton resident Gill ran the London Marathon on 25 April, and completed the 26 mile and 385 yards (42.195km) course in 4 hours 54 minutes and 36 seconds, beating the world record by 5 minutes 24 seconds.
And in doing so Gill will raised more than £2,300 for Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.
Gill Begnor said: “I did it. I broke the world record for the fastest marathon run by a woman dressed as a bottle and, as there is currently no registered male record, I am now officially the fastest bottle in the world.
“The low point of the race for me was the last 22.2 miles – every inch of which my legs were telling me that I must be crazy if I thought they were going to run for five hours carrying an 11.5lb costume.
“Crossing the finishing line wasn’t quite the moment of elation I’d hoped for either, as I was too tall to fit under the overhead boards, so the crowds were treated to the hugely amusing sight of a seven foot beer bottle being knocked over and finishing the marathon on its knees.”
“But I did it, knocking just over five minutes off the record and giving my family and friends who were tracking me an extremely nerve-wracking 4 hours 54 minutes and 36 seconds.
“The most emotional part of the race was when a man took my hand as he ran past me and said ‘My mother died of leukaemia. Thank you for what you are doing.’
“I’m thrilled to have raised over £2,300 so far for this wonderful charity which is making such a difference to survival rates for blood cancers.
“But we’re not there yet so please if you haven’t already, visit my website and help us save more lives. I can promise you that there is not an inch of my body that doesn’t hurt today so I have suffered enough to earn every penny you can spare.”
To make a donation go to www.HookyPint.co.uk
To see a picture of Gill Begnor running the marathon go to http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8642770.stm
