Two LMH alumni have broken the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon in a 10-person costume at this year’s London Marathon.
Jackie Scully (2000, English) and Frances Walker (Sykes, 2000, Biochemistry) took to the London streets on 21 April in an iconic London Bus costume – designed by ex-Dancing on Ice pro skater Frankie Seaman – along with eight other friends to mark 10 years since Jackie was treated for breast cancer. Jackie took the role of bus driver (in full TfL branded costume) and Fran wore scrubs, with each team member choosing to dress up as everyday community heroes.
The friends, who met at Oxford, were joined by Jackie’s husband and fellow LMH graduate Duncan Sloan (2000, Maths), who ran as roadside assistance to support the team along the route.
This record-breaking endurance challenge is the latest in a series of big exercise-related events that Jackie has undertaken. Since leaving LMH, Jackie has had her pelvis rebuilt and been through breast cancer, and she turned to movement as a way of taking back control over her body. Having pledged to raise £100k for charity while going through chemotherapy in 2014, Jackie and Duncan got married on the Cutty Sark immediately before running the London Marathon in 2017 (and then trekked the Great Wall of China for their honeymoon). Jackie then went on to break a Guinness World Record on her 40th birthday by spending 29 hours and 5 seconds on a static spin bike with a team of 15 others.
Coming into this landmark year, Jackie and her challenge teams had raised more than £93k for cancer-related charities, including Breast Cancer Now, Willow Foundation and NHS Charities Together. Determined to go one step further, she reset the pot at the beginning of this year with the aim of raising a full £100k in 12 months by completing a number of challenges, the first of which was the London Marathon. The marathon has so far raised more than £35,000.
Jackie will return to the London streets on 14 July with a team of 99 other runners to take part in the London 10k, the race she completed while undergoing chemotherapy back in 2014 and the one that encouraged Fran into running. Following that, she will be joined by Duncan on a 48-hour trek of 24 peaks in the Lake District, before trekking 100km across the Sahara Desert in November. She is also encouraging more people to pledge to move 100km over the next 12 months as part of her recently-launched ‘100k our way’ campaign.
Jackie is still looking for 10k runners (maybe a few more LMHers) and is hoping that her 100k campaign with help others find strength through movement.
If you would like to get in touch with Jackie, please email the development team via: development@lmh.ox.ac.uk and they will pass your message on.
