A helicopter Instructor with No 660 Squadron on the Defence Helicopter Flying School at RAF Shawbury has gained an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.

On 27 March 2011, at the Yeovil Half Marathon, Lieutenant Jim Fraser RN broke a Guinness World Recordâ„¢ by running a half marathon whilst wearing a respirator. He achieved a time of 1 hr 51 min 31 sec breaking the previous record of 2 hr 36 min 59 sec set last year by Christopher Filipowski at the Brooklyn Half Marathon.

Lt Fraser said, “You see so many people asking for sponsorship money but I wanted to do something different, something that would catch people’s eye. I hoped they would recognise how difficult running the distance in a respirator would be and be more inclined to part with their hard earned cash.”

Lt Fraser, who has piloted Lynx helicopters based on ships conducting counter-drug and disaster relief operations, used the respirator which is issued to all military personnel in case of biological or chemical attack. He said, “It was horribly uncomfortable to wear. The first few miles were okay but I started to feel dizzy after mile eight, I could not feel my legs after nine and when I got to ten I thought I would pass out. I found it really hard to breathe but I just kept ploughing on to the end.”

He ran in aid of Help for Heroes, a charity which supports members of the Armed Forces who have been wounded in the service of their country and he managed to raise £1200 for the cause