British violist smashes Guinness World Record for running the marathon dressed as a musical instrument.

Liverpool-born Alistair Rutherford – a.k.a. The Running Viola – has done it again. Not content with breaking the Guinness World Record for running the fastest half marathon dressed as a musical instrument earlier this year, he completed the Birmingham International Marathon on October 15 in a remarkable three hours, 20 minutes and 33 seconds – smashing the previous record by almost an hour (previously set in 2016 by a runner competing in the Yuengling Shamrock Marathon in Virginia Beach dressed as a cowbell).

^{Alistair Rutherford. All photos © www.andrewpeat.co}

Rutherford, a 21-year-old student at the Birmingham Conservatoire, is aiming to raise at least £4,000 (roughly $6750) for a collaborative project that sees academics, alumni and string students at his Conservatoire teach South African kids via Skype once a week. The Cape Gate MIAGI Centre for Music & Birmingham Conservatoire project is also known as ARCO after the technique of playing a stringed instrument with a bow.

“I cannot thank everyone enough at the Royal Birmingham Conserivatoire and ARCO, along with my family and...