Man born without lower legs breaks running world record

A NOTTS runner, who was born without lower legs, has broken a half-marathon world record.

Richard Whitehead completed the 13.1-mile Bath Half in just 1h 19m – two minutes faster than the previous leg amputee record.

He said: "A fellow amputee came up to me afterwards and said, 'do you know you broke a record?' and I was just wowed!

"I got a lot of support on the road. My plan was to go quite hard at the start and I was stoked by the time. I knew I'd be quite close as my training has been intense."

The Colwick runner, who last year ran four international marathons in one month, is now training for the 2012 Paralympic Games.

But there is no category for leg amputees, so he will be competing in the marathon against arm amputees.

Mr Whitehead, 32, does not have knees and runs on prosthetic limbs.

He said: "I always get one or two cheeky guys that say 'you must have an advantage' but I think, 'hang on, I don't have knees and I don't have legs!'"

In 2004 he completed his first marathon in 5h 19m but after years of hard work and dedicated training his personal best is now 3h 14m. The world record for a leg amputee is 3h 4m and Richard is hoping to beat that this year.

The self-trained runner is now being coached by elite runner Liz Yelling, who was trained in the Paula Radcliffe camp.

Currently in Italy for the Rome Marathon tomorrow, Richard is also planning to run marathons in Boston, Chicago and New York this year – as well as the Robin Hood Half Marathon on home soil.

When he is not running around the world, Richard works part-time for Nottingham City Council, coaching schools about inclusion in sport.

He said: "When I first started running, it was a case of never running before and I wanted to show the public what a double-leg amputee could achieve – but now it's about more achievements within running and, hopefully, I can keep pushing the boundaries.

"I'm getting more and more competitive. There's a lot of people out there that need inspiration in life and if they see me running and it does that, then it keeps me going.

"I ran in the Middle East in Beruit, Africa and America – it's opened my eyes."

delia.monk@nottinghameveningpost.co.uk