Stag do inspires fancy dress marathon run

A stag night out might inspire many things in a man, but few will have felt the urge to tackle the gruelling 26-mile London Marathon course while sinking pints with mates on their final night of freedom.

Nevertheless, Hampshire barman Guy Cockroft, who donned full fancy dress during Saturday's race, says that is exactly where the idea came from.

He told the Hampshire Daily Echo: "I got the idea to dress up while I was on a stag do.

"I was talking to my friend about running the marathon and he asked why I didn't try it in fancy dress."

Mr Cockroft said "the seed was sown from there", prompting him to ditch his usual running attire and complete the 26-mile slog dressed as Dr Seuss' Cat in the Hat.

He added that his plans to go through with the idea had certainly given his friends "a right laugh", no matter what the outcome.

Saturday's London Marathon proved to be the fastest ever as Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru completed the course in a record two hours five minutes and ten seconds, beating more than 35,000 other athletes and fun-runners to the finishing line.