A man dressed as a gorilla just finished a marathon, but you won’t believe how long it took
How far are you willing to go for your love of animals? We’re venturing a guess and saying not as far as Tom Harrison. Tom got dressed as a gorilla and just finished a marathon. But you won’t believe how long it took.
Tom goes by the name Mr. Gorilla and donned the look for the entire 26.2 miles of the London Marathon. If you thought this was just a publicity stunt, you’d be wrong — sort of. The father of two ran the marathon to raise money for The Gorilla Organization, according to the BBC. This excellent charity spearheads numerous projects aimed at protecting the world’s biggest primate from environmental threats.
Who is this gorilla man?
Tom is a police officer from Amersham, the BBC reports. And not only did he put on a heavy gorilla costume for the entire run, he also got down on all fours and crawled. DETAILS PEOPLE, it is all about details!
Tom helpfully kept us all informed throughout his long crawl for gorillas.
Teaching the next generation! My cousin James's daughter leaving me in her wake! #LondonMarathonCrawl #MrGorilla @Gorillas_Org pic.twitter.com/XTsaMyj3Av
— Mr Gorilla (@GorillaSaver) April 29, 2017
Doing Da Vinci proud near St Katharine's Dock between mile 22 and 23 #MrGorilla #LondonMarathonCrawl #VLM2017 @Gorillas_Org pic.twitter.com/n2ZeXVxrgt
— Mr Gorilla (@GorillaSaver) April 28, 2017
“Prior to this, the most I had crawled in one go was a mile, so I found the first day of the marathon really exhausting, he told the news network, which noted he crawled for 10 to 12 hours per day.
Anyone who has ever run a marathon will gladly tell you how hard it is to keep going. And that doesn’t take into consideration a heavy gorilla costume and being on all fours! Tom, you are a real hero. Even the local police chipped in to help Tom hit his goal!
Well done to the Met Officer still crawling the marathon route! We're behind you 👍 –https://t.co/TOg62TAlqZ
— Kingston Police (@MPSKingston) April 25, 2017
How long did it take?
It took Tom a whopping 6 DAYS. But like they all say, it’s about the journey. In fact, Mr. Gorilla raised over £26,000, or about $33,675 in US dollars, for the organization. That amount greatly surpassed his personal goal of £1,500. Tom is a hero to all of us animal lovers out there. Yet he doesn’t let it go to his head.
“I think I’ve started to smell a bit like a gorilla, he quipped about his endurance test, which made him the “highest fundraiser ever for the charity, according to executive director Jillian Miller.
Hopefully we get to see more creative ideas such as this at future marathons.