Group completes half-marathon dressed as caterpillar

A group of runners believe they have broken a world record for completing a half-marathon dressed in a caterpillar costume.

The 10 members of the Tutbury Runners completed Derby's Ramathon in two hours, eight minutes and 51 seconds. They are now awaiting official recognition from Guinness World Records.

Measuring 60ft in length, the caterpillar costume was built from sections of children's play tunnels, each zip-tied to the individual runners vests.

One of the competitors, Craig Robson, described the challenge as a "logistical nightmare" but said the group managed to do it with "grit and determination".

The idea originated in April when one of the members, Liam Manifold, suggested they try and beat the previous world record of four participants, set in Manchester last year.

One of the runners, Craig Robson, said the group never actually trained together because of costume logistics and work commitments.

"It was an absolute logistical nightmare but with grit and determination we did it," he said.

The team were hoping to complete a dress rehearsal on the day of the race around Tutbury early in the morning but this never happened.

Instead the group found a "secret rendezvous" point just before the challenge to set up the caterpillar.

Craig said he was worried the costume was going to fall apart within the first mile because of a tight bend on the route.

However the team managed to stay together, keeping the costume in one piece, communicating from front to back by "shouting very loudly".

Organised by Jane Tomlinson's Run For All, the 13.1-mile (21km) route passed the Florence Nightingale Monument, Elvaston Castle, Alvaston Park and Pride Park Stadium, before runners returned to the city centre.

Despite being an experienced runner and the weather on Sunday being slightly cooler than the previous days, Robson admitted he started to struggle at mile eight and thought he might have to drop out.

He credits his team for pulling him through.

"We were working as a team trying to get through it all," he said.

He added the whole experience had been "absolutely hilarious" and he was amazed at the public reaction.

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