In his A Guy Just Broke the World Record for a Marathon in Crocs, YouTuber Chris Howett showed off his latest feat—running the Manchester Marathon with a sub-3 hour time of 2:58:24 … while wearing Crocs. The previous Guinness World Record record stood at 3:02.
Not only that, but Howett had previously never run a marathon before in Crocs or any other footwear.
Sporting a yellow pair of the comfortable footwear adored by chefs and Gen Z alike, and complete with a Lightning McQueen charm for good luck, Howett set off on his run, but not before getting eyed up by his fellow runners, some of whom were wearing the latest and greatest racing shoes for the event.
“I mean, who would be stupid enough to try to run a marathon in Crocs?” Howett asked the camera. “That person would be me.” At least he remembered to use the heel strap.
Sara Hall Smashes American Masters Marathon Record injuries, including multiple Achilles tears, derailed his career. Still, he felt he could run a fast enough marathon in the chunky, brightly-colored shoes.
As the marathon continued, Howett worried that it seemed too easy, logging a 6:50 pace on his first mile, a 6:47 for the second, and 6:36 for mile three. After those first few miles, however, his feet began to fight back against being forced to run in the rubber clogs.
“I was running 30 seconds per mile faster than I needed to, this was just outright stupid,” Howett narrated in the video. “The wheels could fall off at any minute.”
Other Hearst Subscriptions “the wall.” At the halfway point in the race, the runner said that while he felt good, his feet were another story. “It’s like I’m being stabbed in the bottom of the foot. Tough going.”
and was most recently the senior editorial director at blister on his left foot that made running in the Crocs unbearable but that the crowd support kept him going. “My left foot is going through pain I didn’t even know existed on the pain spectrum.”
As he neared the finish line, disaster struck. “I was dealing with a cramp for the last six miles, but this I could not continue running,” Howett said, noting that his cramping had gotten too bad to ignore. He was just half a mile from the finish.
Again, he says the crowd lifted him up and helped him continue. “I wasn’t just breaking the world record for myself anymore, I was breaking it for the people,” Howett quipped before finishing.
And finish he did. Howett ended his Croc challenge with a time of 2:58:24. The Guinness World Record team is still verifying the time, but when it is, Howett will have beaten the record by four minutes and 17 seconds.
Laura Ratliff is a New York City-based writer, editor, and runner. Laura's writing expertise spans numerous topics, ranging from travel and food and drink to reported pieces covering political and human rights issues. She has previously worked at Architectural Digest, Bloomberg News, and While Howett had never run a marathon, he was a track athlete before and was most recently the senior editorial director at TripSavvy. Like many of us, Laura was bitten by the running bug later in life, after years of claiming to "hate running." Her favorite marathon is Big Sur.
