Team RADepillar – [1] Inspiration & the team

What was the inspiration for running the Berlin Marathon?

During a visit to the Oktoberfest celebration in Torrance, CA – we thought, wouldn’t it be awesome to visit the real Oktoberfest and run the prestigious Berlin marathon? (I’m sure not everyone thinks of running a marathon with a beer in hand, but we’ve met a few folks at the Dog Haus Running Club that are like minded.) Once the seed was planted, we were able to secure 4 entires into the marathon a few months later. (It’s all a lottery system, this 40k+ marathon sells out every year so be sure to register with a group of friends.)

My group of friends and I have been running marathons together for the last few years, and decided to attempt to break the record for the 4 person marathon in a 4 person costume.  As a group we’ve raced about 6 marathons between Los Angeles and San Francisco. The team consists of Sarah Mattison, Chain Lee, Nam Gip and myself.

Since the Berlin Marathon is known for the fastest marathon in the world (and we would never come close to that in this lifetime) we thought a Guinness world record would be pretty epic!

Sarah Mattison, Chain Lee, Nam Gip and Michael Wong at the San Francisco Marathon

Reflections of the current fastest 4 person caterpillar to run a marathon!

It has been a little over a week since my friends and I traveled out to Berlin, Germany in attempt to set the Guinness World Record for fastest 4 person marathon in a costume! Still ridiculous, but we’re overwhelmed by the support and curiosity that friends, family and folks over the internet have with the Googley eyed Caterpillar (we call it the RADepillar after our friends and family cycling team) that ran the Berlin Marathon. Our official time was 04:53, which beat the previous record holder by a total of 10 minutes.

We’ve received a number of WTF and questions about how this crazy contraption actually worked, so here’s a little write-up:

  1. Inspiration & the team
  2. Submitting the Guinness World Record application
  3. Costume brainstorm
  4. Prototype & construction of RADepillar
  5. Training for a marathon in costume
  6. Flying to Berlin & Marathon Expo
  7. Guinness World Record attempt day in Berlin
  8. Post record attempt thoughts

Willkommen & Hello Berlin!

My name is Michael (aka Wongie) and welcome to my blog! I’m an avid runner, amateur photographer, video guy and have an amazing group of friends that convince each other to do wacky things like run a marathon in a Caterpillar costume. Join me on my journey, as I document my adventures as I leave my job for the last 7+ years and invest the next few months to traveling and learning more about myself.  First stop on this journey is Berlin, where our group of friends set a Guinness World Record for fastest 4 person marathon in a costume!