THE Director of Sport at Exeter’s oldest school ran himself into the record books at the London Marathon, just six days after completing the Boston Marathon in the United States of America.

James Kelly, a Year 3 class teacher and whole-school Director of Sport and PE at the city-centre Cathedral School, ran the 45th London Marathon on Sunday, April 27.

At the finish line, he and his brother and sister were presented with an official Guinness World Record certificate for Fastest Marathon By Three Siblings (Mixed).

James, who less than six days previously also ran the Boston Marathon in a time of two hours and 46 minutes, said: “Running the London Marathon just six days after completing Boston was incredibly tough.

“My legs were sore and heavy, and the final five miles turned into a true mental battle. But I kept going.

“What carried me through were the amazing cheers from my family and friends along the route, the knowledge that people in the school community were tracking my progress, and the motivation of working toward a potential world record with my siblings. All of it reminded me why I was doing this.

“In those hardest moments, I leaned on the Exeter Cathedral School habits—especially hard work and keeping going.”

Head of Exeter Cathedral School James Featherstone congratulated his colleague: “The whole ECS community was cheering James on – and we are delighted for him that he has casually notched up an official world record.

“James is the ideal person to head-up our terrific sports programme at the School, and we are all really proud of him. It only goes to show that those who can – teach!”

Exeter Cathedral School offers sports scholarships and has recently launched the ECS High Performance Sports Programme in collaboration with Blundell’s School.

For more information, visit: https://www.exetercathedralschool.co.uk/about-us/high-performance-sports-programme/ .