A former anti-poaching ranger took to Bicester’s parkrun in a rhino costume as he continued preparations for the London Marathon where he will attempt to beat a world record.
David McNab, from Stratton Audley, will attempt to beat the existing world record for completing the capital’s marathon in a rhino costume later this year.
He has been running with 10kg weights in preparation while waiting for his rhino costume to arrive from Save the Rhino International, the charity he has chosen to raise money for at next year’s London Marathon.
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He is set to take part in similar events in the build-up to the marathon to “raise awareness, bring people on board and hopefully raise some funds.”
Posting on the Bicester parkrun Facebook page after the event, he said: "Thank you for letting me take part as a rhino today.
"I was overwhelmed with the generosity and curiosity of the group.
"I’ll be back again if you’ll have me. See if I can get a faster time as a rhino."
Working as a gardener for Nicholsons, the runner is hoping to land a new Guinness World Record, beating the existing time of just over four hours.
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He said: “It’s a crazy challenge. It’s something I’m hoping is achievable and it would be nice to have a world record too.
“I’m really hoping it will get people interested in donating to wildlife schemes again, because that fell to the wayside with Covid and now the cost-of-living crisis."
Save the Rhino International is based in London, and has 12 rhino costumes it provides for people to run in.
Mr McNab said there is a long waiting list to be able to run in one, but because he worked in South Africa as an anti-poaching ranger, he was selected quickly.
He said: “For 11 years I lived in South Africa working on game reserves helping to protect rhinos and everything else, including the landscape.
“A key part of the job was anti-poaching, which aimed to stop poachers from killing and taking rhinos from the reserve. Every single rhino is under enormous threat.
“Mine and my colleagues’ job entailed staying up at night and following the rhinos around, armed, making sure they were safe.”
Since 2001, Save the Rhino International has grown from a small charity raising £300,000 a year, to today raising around £2,000,000 for programmes in six African and two Asian countries, for all five species of rhino.
You can donate to Mr McNab’s cause by searching 'David McNab is fundraising for Save the Rhino International' on Just Giving.
Bicesterparkrun takes place at Langford Fields every Saturday at 9am.
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