Father Sets World Record, Wins Half Marathon Pushing Stroller
Calum Neff pushed while his 11 month old daughter babbled the whole way.
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*Courtesy of Competitor.com
Calum Neff had his sights set on a Guinness World Record soon after his second daughter, Holland, was born.
With Holland about to celebrate her first birthday, Calum pulled it off Saturday. He won the Katy Half Marathon in Texas in a time of 1 hour, 11 minutes, 27 seconds, which is believed to be a world record for a half marathon pushing a stroller.
The previous record, according to the Guinness World Records website, was set in 2013 by Travis Boyd and his 1-year-old daughter in 1:13:50.
Neff, 31, will have to submit the evidence to Guinness to get the record verified, and there’s plenty of proof—his stroller was set up with a GoPro, he Periscoped almost the entire race, and he has the Strava data to prove it, too. He ran with a Thule Glide, noting that “Guinness rules say it must be a stock commercially available push stroller, no modifications.”
Related: Stroller Running Tips From A New Dad
Neff is an operations manager for an oilfield service company, and with his wife Julie has a 3-year-old daughter, Alessandra, along with almost-1-year-old Holland (who was technically the real winner of the race, right?). He ran collegiately for the University of Houston and according to Strava has PRs of 1:08 in the half marathon and 2:22 in the marathon. He’s also run several ultras and competes at shorter distances, as well. He is sponsored by Altra.
“The stroller gives mom a break and gets my girls outside which they love,” Neff said. “I wanted to show that being a Dad and running competitively can both happen, and to promote people to get out with their kids.”