Going for the Joggler: Half-Marathon Guinness World Record Attempt at Toronto Waterfront

The half-marathon joggling Guinness World Record may not attract the same kind of press as my marathon record, but the difficulty level is still about an 11 out of 10.

I've run a 1:23:49 joggling half-marathon in Montreal and a 1:24:32 in Burlington, Ont., but never registered those times with Guinness World Records. On October 19 at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon, a representative from GWR will be there to certify records on the spot, so this time, it's going to be real.

In order to get an official record, Guinness World Records tells me I need to at least break 1:30, even though there is no current Guinness World Record in the books for the fastest half-marathon while joggling three objects. My marathon record is 2:50:12, so I'd like to run a sub-1:25.

Here's what makes the half-marathon joggling record a tough one: Maintaining a pace of about 4 minutes per kilometre (or under 6:30 per mile) is no small feat while trying to maintain a drop-free three-ball cascade. The pace eventually catches up to your brain and the last 5K or so are an absolute torture, maybe even more so than the marathon. With the half-marathon, you have almost no time to warm up and settle into a rhythm – it's just go go go.

I'm feeling good despite my advancing age (now in the masters category) and will go for the joggler and try to hit 1:22. My 1:24 in Burlington was in the winter, and I'm pretty sure the GoPro I had strapped to my head slowed me down. This time I'll be back at the favourite record-breaking marathon course and hopefully set a new Guinness record 10 years after my first one at the Toronto Waterfront race, when I pushed Annika in the stroller.