A dad-of-two and veteran marathon runner from Hayes has taken his athletic talents to new heights after he broke the world record for running a half marathon in flip-flops.

Pardip Minhas tackled the Hillingdon Half Marathon on Sunday February 19 in just one hour, 37 minutes and 58 seconds – around three minutes faster than the current flip-flop record.

The 48-year-old was inspired to challenge himself by wearing the unconventional running footwear to as part of his fundraising for disabled respite charity Revitalise.

Now Pinkwell Road resident Mr Minhas is hoping to turn his new-found skill to a bigger stage – the London Marathon .

Pardip Minhas has broken the world record for fastest half marathon in flip flops

He said: “I tried to think of something different and this is what I came up with.

“The support I got was fantastic. It was just amazing

“It just meant so much to me that I broke a world record.”

The previous best was one hour, 40 minutes and 57 seconds, and Mr Minhas now has to collect up evidence of his achievement to send off to Guinness World Records.

This year's Hillingdon Half Marathon and 10 kilometre runs saw 625 people hit the streets starting from Brunel University .

Last year's run was struck by fierce winds, fallen trees and torrential rain as Storm Katie battered runners for the 13.1-mile half marathon course.

Luckily this athletes were treated to far better weather and warmer temperatures.

Mr Minhas will be taking the challenge to the London Marathon later this year

Organiser James Shipley from Active Training World said: “The event itself went really well.

“We had Storm Katie last year so it was a change in conditions this year.”

On Mr Minhas' amazing achievement he said: “He was really emotional. We got him on the microphone and I think it meant a lot to him.

“It was quite emotional at the finish.”

Mr Minhas crossed the line in an impressive 82nd place and said he was surprised not to suffer any blisters.

The Hayes resident has also run dressed as a crocodile while pushing his son in a pram

He is now taking the challenge to the London Marathon in 2017 with the hopes of breaking the marathon flip flop world record to raise more money for Revitalise.

The national charity offers respite holidays for disabled people and their carers and have camps in Essex, Southampton and Southport.

Mr Minhas has run 11 marathons so far

So far Mr Minhas has raised £192 of his £1,500 target and his hoping his training run in Hillingdon will help get him on his way to raising the cash.

You can donate by visiting his Just Giving page here.

The winners

Male half marathon – Jonathan Poole – 01:10:37

Female half marathon – Anna Boniface – 01:18:36

Male 10k – Kelvin Gomez – 00:32:05

Female 10k – Joanne Shale– 00:40:08

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