A Brighton runner has told GB News how he had "no idea" he had broken a world record after deciding to still take part despite recently having a hip replacement.
Chris Terrill, 73, sat down with Britain's Newsroom hosts Bev Turner and Andrew Pierce as he recalled the moment he found out he had accidentally smashed the previous world record.
Revealing how he'd ended up on crutches ahead of the marathon, Terrill told GB News: "I was playing cricket, and after a lifetime of playing rugby and boxing and judo and all sorts of things, it's cricket that got me in the end.
"I leapt for a higher ball on the boundary, missed it by miles and came crashing down on a sharp tree stump, which shattered my right hip."
Chris Terrill told GB News how he accidentally broke the world record for running a marathon on crutches
Guinness World Records, GB News
Joking that his doctor has "only just started speaking to him again" after deciding to run the marathon, Terrill added: "I struggled on for a few months, and then eventually my surgeon said, I've got to whip that out and put a new hip in."
When asked by Bev what his finishing time was and how he'd discovered it was the new world record, Terrill admitted he had "no idea" the record existed, and it was a friend that broke the good news to him.
Terrill explained: "I did it in six hours, 11 minutes and 11 seconds exactly, but I didn't know the world record was the thing. I didn't know there was such a thing.
"A friend of mine at London City Runners said, 'Chris, I think you might have broken the world record'. And I looked it up and yeah, the existing record was six hours, 24 minutes and 48 seconds."
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Terrill, 73, completed the marathon in just over six hours
Brighton Marathon
Detailing the ordeal in getting the record approved by Guinness World Records, Terrill revealed that after contacting them, his claim was initially turned down as there was no representatives present at the race to verify the record.
Terrill said: "So I contacted Guinness World Records and they said 'sorry, but we can't we can't accept this retrospectively. We can't ratify it because we didn't have anybody there to to umpire it'.
"The Brighton Marathon people, who have been fantastic - big shout out to them for stepping in - said 'we've got all his times'.
"They had every five km, the split times, and 100 photographs."
Terrill told GB News that he had 'no idea' he had broken the record
GB News
After Brighton Marathon stepped in, Terrill told GB News that the record was given to him, as Guinness World Records told him "yeah, it's yours".
Sharing another memorable moment from the marathon, Terrill recalled his conversation with running legend Paula Radcliffe and how she'd wished him "good luck" after spotting that he was on crutches.
Terrill said: "I was on the starting line, and I thought I'm just going to amble round, I'm not going to be stupid. I was raising money for my charity, which is the Royal Navy Royal Marines charity, which is why I'm wearing a Green Beret.
"I started crossed the starting line, and the great Paula Radcliffe, who is my hero, clocked me, gave a sort of a comedic double take and said, 'oh, good luck with crutches'.
"And I thought, oh, I've been given a shout out from Paula Radcliffe, I've got to put some effort into this."
