Representative Image of a man in an inflatable chicken costume crossing a marathon finish line ( AI Generrated Image)
Sebastian Burley, 36, finished the 26.2-mile course in 4:00:33 on Sunday, 26 April 2026, becoming the fastest man to complete a marathon in a full-body inflatable costume, according to Guinness World Records . When The Voice reported on his run on 28 April, he had raised £2,132. His was 1 of 38 Guinness World Records titles set or broken by participants at the 2026 London Marathon. Burley’s 4:00:33 translates to approximately 9 minutes 10 seconds per mile, or about 5 minutes 42 seconds per kilometre. A pre-race listing identified Arnie Delstanche as the record holder with a time of 4:07:46, meaning Burley’s finish was 7 minutes and 13 seconds faster.
He chose the charity partly because, as a father, he was concerned about children living in poverty.
Burley said the costume became incredibly hot and humid, with nowhere for the heat to escape, and that it was difficult to breathe in, let alone run in. He also said that running in windy conditions felt like running with a parachute. Burley ran to raise money for Action for Children, a charity that protects and supports vulnerable children and young people. The physical challenge was not simply the distance. After completing the race, Burley again described the conditions inside the costume as difficult, telling The Voice: “The costume got incredibly hot and humid inside and there was nowhere for the heat and humidity to go. He added that it was difficult to breathe in, let alone run in.
Before the marathon, Burley had described the inflatable chicken costume as becoming extremely hot and humid inside. He had previously run in the chicken costume and was preparing to attempt the record while raising money for Action for Children.
The Voice reported that he had raised £2,132 by 28 April, 2 days after the marathon. His reference to 4.5 million children reflected the government’s earlier FYE 2024 estimate for relatively low income after housing costs. The latest HBAI statistics, which use an updated approach to administrative data, put the FYE 2025 figure at 4.0 million. The government’s July 2026 projections estimate that 3.6 million children will be in relative low income after housing costs in the financial year ending 2030. That represents a projected reduction of 400,000 children from the FYE 2025 level. His 4:00:33 finish now stands as the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon in a full-body inflatable costume by a man, while his fundraising for Action for Children gave the attempt a separate charitable purpose.
Because the amount was reported at that point in time, the total could have changed after the newspaper’s report. Because a close family member works for the charity, burley said before the marathon that he chose Action for Children partly. Burley was raising money for Action for Children, which supports children and young people through services and other forms of support. The Department for Work and Pensions stresses that these are projections under specific policy and economic assumptions, rather than forecasts of what will necessarily happen. For Burley, the marathon combined a demanding physical challenge with his fundraising goal.