Teacher to run London Marathon dressed as emu

Tom Brown has been training in his emu costume at the Hove seafront Parkrun event

A teacher is to run the London Marathon dressed as an emu.

Tom Brown is the deputy head teacher at Woodlands Meed College in Burgess Hill, West Sussex.

He completed the 2019 London Marathon dressed as a Banana in Pyjama character in about three and a half hours.

“It’s about the smiles you put on people’s faces and the memories you create on the day,” he said.

Mr Brown said he had been regularly training in his costume at the Hove seafront Parkrun event.

“As you get out the car in the car park and put on the costume, people start looking at you and wonder what you’re doing,” he told BBC Radio Sussex.

“I even went for a practice run one late evening because I didn’t want anyone to see me, and you either get really strange looks or you get smiles.”

The money he raises from the challenge will go towards sporting and community enrichment opportunities for students at the school.

“The main reason I do it is to inspire the students to challenge and push themselves,” he added.

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