Philip Beer, 59, of Woolpit, smashes Guinness World Record at London Marathon dressed as Eddie the Exercise Book

A man has set the world record for fastest marathon dressed as a book in memory of his late friend and colleague.

Philip Beer, 59, of Woolpit, near Bury St Edmunds, completed Sunday’s London Marathon dressed at Eddie the Exercise Book for the second time – a costume weighing eight kilograms.

The mascot was originally created to promote Philip’s business, Exercise Books Direct, at various exhibitions.

However, after his friend and and colleague, Eddie Samson, died about four years ago due to cancer, Philip decided to rename the costume in Eddie’s memory and run the London Marathon in 2022 to raise funds for The Institute of Cancer Research (ICR).

He said: “When Eddie died, it was just awful. It made me want to do something in his honour.

“I know an awful lot of people have been touched by cancer, but when somebody you’re with everyday is suddenly not there anymore – it’s really hard.

“I think Eddie would think its really funny, he had such an amazing sense of humour.

“It’s all about keeping his memory alive and to keep raising money for the charity.”

Philip set the Guinness World Record in 2022 clocking in at five hours and 37 minutes, however another colleague Shane Owen surpassed this achievement last year by completing the marathon in five hours and 19 minutes while wearing the costume.

“Shane only beat me by 15 minutes,” Philip said. “It was just too tempting – I knew I had to give it another go this year.

“I’ve been training since Christmas wearing an eight kilogram weight vest and it paid off on Sunday.”

Philip got round the London circuit in five hours and eight minutes, beating Shane’s time by 11 minutes and once again claiming the world record.

To donate to Philip, click here.

Exercise Books Direct has raised more than £50,000 for ICR in the last 10 years and has plans to keep fund-raising in the future.