A fun-loving fitness fanatic is setting her sights on a quirky world record by running the fastest marathon by someone dressed as a videogame character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Teacher Alison Stewart will be going for glory in the guise of Chun-Li, from 90s hit Street Fighter, when she pounds the streets of London on 21st<\/sup> April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 44-year-old needs to beat the previous-best time of three hours and 56 minutes and is raising funds for East Anglia\u2019s Children\u2019s Hospices (EACH).<\/p>\n\n\n\n She previously ran for EACH at the 2019 London Marathon \u2013 in the process setting a record for the fastest runner dressed as a fairytale character.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI must be mad but love a fun, quirky challenge,\u201d said Alison, who teaches at The Perse Upper School, in Cambridge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy 12-year-old daughter, Eleanor, is the inspiration because she loves the Guinness Book of Records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe was nine when I set my last one, which was all her idea, and very disappointed when it was broken last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe asked if I could try for another one \u2013 so here goes!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThis time, I\u2019ve chosen to attempt the fastest marathon by someone dressed as a videogame character as my daughter and stepchildren love gaming. I\u2019m constantly telling them to turn it off!<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was a tossup between Lara Croft, from Tomb Raider, Princess Peach, from Super Mario, or Chun-Li.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI decided to go for the latter as I wanted a strong female character and think the outfit is great.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cShe wears a blue qipao, which is an early 20th<\/sup> Century Chinese dress. Hopefully it\u2019s less restrictive than the other two, although keeping my hairstyle in place could be interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In order to secure her place at London, Alison needed to achieve a \u2018good for age\u2019 qualifying time so signed up for a marathon in Longford, Ireland, last August. She needed to clock 3h 50m but managed 3h 30m.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNow it\u2019s game on and I\u2019m looking forward to raising as much as I can for EACH,\u201d added Alison, who lives in Over, ten miles outside Cambridge and Huntingdon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt was the obvious charity to support again and I was fortunate enough to be given a tour of Milton after my marathon in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe work it does is amazing and inspiring and I hope every donation helps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This will be Alison\u2019s tenth marathon and, by coincidence, she was one of three Snow White characters in 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Initially, she was told she had missed out on the record \u2013 only to get a phone call on the journey home to say there had been a mistake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI was shattered but elated,\u201d said Alison.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it when I turned up and saw the other runners dressed as Snow White. We had to race each other and I remember shouting to the crowd \u2018have you seen any other Snow Whites?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTo set the record, you have to cross the line looking exactly as you started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI have to sign-in early, there are \u2018spotters\u2019 among the crowd and it\u2019s all extremely strict. You can\u2019t bend any rules.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI\u2019m horribly nervous but it\u2019s all good fun and I love running. I\u2019ve started doing it with some of the students at school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s so easy and accessible and I see such a change in them when they\u2019ve spent time outside. Hopefully what I\u2019m doing inspires them in some way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n