Tanyel’s team breaks record
SIX charity runners who braved the London Marathon have secured a second Guinness world record — for the Fastest Marathon in a Six-Person Costume — while raising £25,000 to help young people with cancer.
The team broke the record for the Fastest Marathon in a FivePerson Costume by completing the Virgin London Marathon 2017 in six hours and 17 minutes dressed as Scooby Doo and the Mystery M achine. This year, with new team members who had all been affected by cancer, the group realised an ambition to break a second record, this time for six people dressed as the Ghostbusters and carrying their own version of the Ghostbusters’ Ecto-1 vehicle named Ecto-6.
Running through the streets of London as temperatures reached 26°C last month, the team completed the 26.2-mile route in six hours and 20 minutes to take the new Guinness accolade. The record run also raised money for the UK-based cancer charity for children and young people, Clic Sargent, and Tanyel’s Smile — a charity set up in memory of Turkish Cypriot Tanyel Uzun, the daughter of team member Ceyhun, which helps children in the TRNC who are suffering from cancer.
The team members, who first met during the 2016 marathon, say they now “feel like f amily” after learning from each other’s experience of cancer and realising the importance of charity work to combat the disease.
Mr Uzun, 48, said that next year he hoped to compete in a Three Marathons in Three Days challenge to boost funds raised for the two charities — and that he has his sights on a yet-to-be-disclosed third Guinness world record.
“The London Marathon this year was a tough challenge as the weather was very hot but it was an amazing feeling to finish and set a record once again while also raising funds for young children,” said Mr Uzun, who was inspired to join the team in memory of his daughter, who passed away in 2016 after suffering from a rare form of bone cancer, Ewing’s sarcoma, since 2013.
The Safer Schools Metropolitan Police liaison officer has been an active charity worker since his daughter’s death and with his wife Gülay established a UK-registered charity which provides financial and emotional support to children and families suffering from cancer. Earlier this year, as reported by Cyprus Today, the couple visited the TRNC’s Oncology Centre to distribute gifts to 30 children receiving treatment there.
Mr Uzun is preparing for several other fundraising events this year, including a canal kayak in Liverpool, sky-diving, the AJ Bell London Olympic Triathlon, a 200mile London-to-Paris cycle ride and the Berlin Marathon.
TO MAKE a donation to Tanyel’s Smile visit http://www.tanyelssmile.org.uk/ or https://www.easyfundraising.org.u k/causes/tanyelssmilehelpingchildrenwithcancer/.