Father-son duo enters Guinness Book of World Records at Houston half marathon – Chron

Father-son duo enters Guinness Book of World Records at Houston half marathon  Chron

Matt and Andrew Leach of Great Britain entered the Guinness Book of World Records by becoming the fastest father-son tandem ever in a half marathon. They collectively needed to run faster than 2:20:33.

They did that on Sunday with time to spare. Visiting Houston for the first time, Matt, 26, covered the distance in 1:02:55. His 56-year-old father Andrew ran 1:11:10. Their combined time was just over 2:14.

“It was something that was pretty awesome. We both needed to run well and to our potential,” Matt said. “We’ve both been running for a while now, not always in the same race, but we’ve been eyeing this record for a bit of time. To have the opportunity to do something together was really cool.”

Sunday was the first time both Matt, who is now based in California, and Andrew, who still lives in the UK, had run in the same half marathon in the United States. Finding a race that they both can get to is challenging. Houston worked out for both.

“We just had a really great time,” Andrew said. “Pleased to be here, a great experience. To be part of the elite athletes, it’s rare you get that opportunity. It’s a tremendous race.”

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