Teacher Amanda Greenwood is a cool customer: she’s out to set a Guinness world record by running in this year’s Virgin Money London Marathon dressed as a whippy ice-cream.

She’s taking part for a second year in support of Cornish charity Cornwall Hospice Care, which looked after her father, Russell Richards, at the end of his life.

‘Last year’s marathon was quite close to when Dad died, so this year I decided to run again,’ explains Amanda.

‘I needed to do something a bit different this time round so I had the idea of running dressed as an ice-cream. I guess it links back to happy family holidays in Polzeath.

‘I wanted to be the fastest whippy ice-cream, but they said I had to go for the fastest dessert. It means I’ve got to run in the costume and beat a time of 4.45.’

Amanda’s eye-catching costume is home-made.

‘As an art teacher I thought it would be better to make it so after doing some initial drawings and with a lot of help from colleagues Jo Pinhey and Phil Walker, we produced an outfit that was acceptable to the Guinness World Record team and comfortable, sort of, to run in.’    

Amanda, who is Bodmin born and bred, has been teaching at Bodmin College for nearly 12 years.

Last year Amanda raised more than £3,000 for Cornwall Hospice Care and hopes this year to beat this target while also setting a world record.  

You can find her fundraising page here at chclondonmarathon2018.everydayhero.com/uk/amanda-greenwood-london-marathon

Amanda also explains more about her world record attempt, her memories of the care her Dad received and wanting to inspire her students, in a short film that you can view online.