Calum Neff To Attempt World Record For Fastest Marathon Pushing a Stroller

Long distance runner Calum Neff and four year old daughter Alessandra will be attempting to break Michael Wardian’s 2:42:21 Guinness World Record in Toronto on October 16^th, 2016.

TORONTO, CANADA – After making waves throughout the worldwide running and parenting communities by breaking the Guinness World Record for Fastest Half Marathon (13.1 miles) Pushing a “Pram” (stroller) in 1 hour 11 minutes and 27 seconds earlier this year with his youngest daughter Holland (now one years old), Calum Neff is back with his eldest daughter Alessandra (4) at this year’s Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 16th in front of official Guinness World Record judges.

Neff, 32, a Canadian currently living in Katy, Texas with his wife Julie and two daughters (and expecting their third in March), will line-up with a world class field which is also doubling as the Canadian National Championships in Toronto next Sunday in hopes of bringing the record back to Canada. Michael Kapral set the very first Guinness record for the Toronto Marathon in 2004 when he pushing his daughter in 2 hours 49 minutes.

Neff will be joined by other Guinness Record chasers in Toronto as, besides London Marathon, is the only race to have officials on site to ratify records without the individuals going through a lengthy process. Neff was also part of a 12-person relay team in May who set a new Guinness World Record of 394.76km for furthest distance run on a treadmill in 24 hours to raise funds and awareness for MitoCanada in support of caring for and curing Mitochondrial disease. Calum has run 2:22 in the marathon (without a stroller), was a collegiate runner at the University of Houston, and has many impressive results to his name from one mile to ultra-marathons (distances greater than 26.2 miles typically covered over mountainous trails).

“My family and I are really looking forward to being in Toronto for the marathon; it’s a place my wife and I both call “home base” throughout our lives with lots of family in the area. We are dedicating this race to my wife’s mother, Judy Kozak, who is currently undergoing treatment in Toronto with her third round of cancer. Being with family over the Canadian Thanksgiving is the most important thing right now. At the end of the week Aley and I are excited to tour Toronto with the stroller. We’ve enjoyed the journey in training together as its been such a good bonding experience for us. My kids really do love their stroller runs and to immerse her in a world class event on the heels of Canada’s best distance runners at her age will be something she will never forget. Training has been up and down with various illnesses, which are expected with kids, and a pesky calf muscle, but based on our latest runs we have a good shot at the record if the conditions are favorable.”

About Calum Neff:

• Calum [Cal – Um] Neff
• 32 years old
• Canadian, born in Aberdeen, Scotland, currently living in Katy, Texas
• Operations Manager and Safety Officer for a Calgary based Oilfield Service company.
• First race was in 1988 at the Cajun Cup 1k in Lafayette, Louisiana at the age of four.
• Ran track and cross country for the University of Houston.
• Longest run to date is The Canadian Death Race, 125km with 17,000-ft of climbing and descending in 13 hours and 54 minutes.
• Fastest mile is 4:10 indoors at the University of Houston in 2007.
• Fastest Marathon is 2 hours 22 minutes at Houston Marathon 2015.
• In February set the Guinness WR for fastest half marathon with stroller in 1 hour 11 minutes with youngest daughter Holland.
• In May set the Guinness WR with a team of 12 guys for running the furthest on a treadmill in 24 hours running 394.76km in support of MitoCanada. The following day I ran the Calgary Marathon 50k race and was the Canadian National Champion in 3 hours 8 minutes – will be heading to Doha, Qatar in 3 weeks for the 50k World Championships for Team Canada.
• Have been on the Canadian Mountain Running Team twice competing at the World Championships.
• I coach high school cross country and a few marathon athletes.
• Alessandra is four years old, born in Calgary. She has recently picked up photography while out on our stroller training runs. We have run 15 minutes 43 seconds for a 5k. She has run two races herself, a one mile trail and a 3 hour orienteering event where we were a team. She’s obsessed with unicorns and things every horse we see on our runs is a unicorn.
• My wife, Julie, and I are expecting our third daughter in March next year. So more stroller running to come!
• We are dedicating this race to Aley’s grandma in Trenton who is currently going through treatment here in Toronto for her third round of Cancer.
• We hope to run as close to 2 hours 30 minutes as possible on Sunday.

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