it's three central London morning boys how day morning death whilst the city sleeps a troop of Royal Marines and their support team are assembling outside the Cenotaph near the houses I need in your running order that's the direction of travel two two two two everybody else move away from there kick because it's gonna need to be weighed thank you in an hour from now these eight men all Royal Marines commanders are going to attempt the impossible they're going to try to break what some think is non-breaking in world vehicle and it's not the faint-hearted that's why there'll be accompanied throughout my fully equipped ambulance and Rapid Reaction paramedics okay noise gentle walk over to me what these Marines are about to attempt is so extreme normal human beings would simply not survive our physical effort required their hearts would explode okay that's how we're doing good yeah okay you know I know you're chomping at the bit I could see it in here however let's keep composed and let's keep the excitement for the end okay and I have utmost confidence in this as a team all right so let's have a nice general job just down just in a warm-up very soon these eight men will embark on their journey will take them to the very edge the day started two hours ago at 1:00 a. m. and the Marines assembled for final briefings and a very big breakfast they knew they would need every calorie they could consume so what is it they're attempting it is relatively flat yeah okay major Scotty Miller was trained a team of eight men to try and break the world speed logic okay first of all this is the entire loop all right this is the time distance speed on a matrix that means running a full marathon 26.
2 miles in combat gear with each man carrying 40 pounds of weight on his back but vitally they must run as a team throughout all right lads have got to start late that's finish they're all carrying 40 pounds of equipment which is very heavy and make no mistake this is as hard a world record as some of those at the Olympic Games we've got a dedicated train ourselves like an Olympic athletes and as far as mental challenges are concerned this one is why aren't there the current world record of four hours 19 minutes and 7 seconds held by the Royal Artillery has stood for 20 years so this morning nobody's in any doubt about what's expected it's all for one and one for all any other questions Boetticher keep them going wake him up I think we've got pretty much get ready to go with pretty much down just shake it out a little bit just change direction a couple of times as you run in bearing in mind it's a bit wet on the floor this world record attempt DS is definitely very military driven you know brawl Marines valleys of determination grit cheerfulness in the face of adversity when it's called past three in the morning and we'll be yeah we'll definitely be tested today but we all come together as a team and we'll all be in the back nice and fast they said we've got lots of characters and different chemistry mixes in in in the team so you've got plenty of things to think about with the conversations and the noises around you to occupy itself erm yeah of course of course cause every way yeah so the final checks on weights strictly 40 pounds per man not an ounce more or less it's now for Al precisely commander mouth and three bars too much attention eight men fully laid wait the order to set up [Music] [Music] so this is our third attempt first time I'm good second time we were going but this time we got to be better than great okay nice and gently nice and gently great bear humor to start we'd love to see that cool and calm confident all the weights both that's the theme of today the first time the Marines tried to break the world record of four hours 19 minutes and 7 seconds was in 2012 that time starting in daylight they even got a send-off by the Prime Minister outside number 10 can I wish you all very best of luck with what you're undertaking today I think it is an incredible thing that you're doing protecting this record marathon with 40 pounds on your back it's gonna be covered in weather the Marines pushed themselves to their limits became in two minutes over world-record time it was a bitter disappointment not to admit defeat they tried again a year later in 2013 we made a valiant attempt and we turn what was a good team into a great team in fact we broke the world record time the team had given them have been rewarded with a time that shaved nearly a minute of the 20 but they're beamed upon and it was up to Scotland to break some shattering news places and sites for us coming down to support us I'm quite motional [Music] unfortunately we lost one of our members in the last half-mile don't pair collapsed but almost died on the tarmac but moment when he collapsed was a difficult one for me because he pushed himself beyond the limit of what was humanly possible for him it was down to me to decide what to do add the paramedics with me and add a consultant doctor as well and I took one look at Dave it was a very easy decision for me not to think about picking him up and carrying him but to gave him the emergency treatment he needed he's one of my brothers I've served in Iraq with Dave and there's no way that I would put his life unnecessarily at risk the rules according to Guinness World Records clearly state that for Speed marching every man who starts the race has to finish otherwise the time is void Dave parrot the man who fell with half a mile to go is back tonight to cheer on the team but he'll never forget that terrifying moment back in 2013 yeah yeah I nearly nearly died I just run myself into the ground didn't have anything left the top and my brain just switched off are they think about it quite a lot you're still rooting for the lads though yeah just really want to see him get up go grateful and I really so there's a really emotional background tonight's world record attempt but none of the runners will be thinking about past failures they'll be focusing on the task when we set off I'm expecting to feel sort of a bit of a surge of adrenaline the first couple of miles that just be the guys kind of settling into it getting into the into the piece of things running is one thing on it Shawn trying out adding 40 pounds to someone's back takes its toll in more ways than one jazzy event goes on that way what was fight pants to start with suddenly feels like 50 pounds feels like 60 pounds here over 20 miles down the line and when that weights just bearing on your back it just feels heavier and heavier and heavier the rest of your body's getting fatigued so your mind's playing tricks on you and and it just feels heavier every single step of the way people have a space you need to he's always gonna be dangerous on the body you know just normal marathons that that length of time that's or high intensity on your bodies is going to be dangerous no problems at all but then doing that with 40-pound on your back as well adds another risk it can cause you some serious serious harm we've got to go beyond where the Marines had never gone before we aren't we are gonna take ourselves that enth degree just starting the blue box line the height of our mental capacity the height of our training capability to Smashing Nunnally this will record ever wear this for drains or hopes you know we've got to do it all together we can't fail one another undoubtedly I'm gonna have to go to a dark place which many of us probably have never been to before and so I think it's going to take a lot of grit a lot of determination perseverance and yeah so I'll see what we've got okay all looking good so far no problem nice and steady eight Royal Marines are trying to break the team world speed marching record that's a full marathon with each man carrying 40 pounds on his back speed marching is absolutely fundamental to Royal Marines within combat regardless of what terrain you're in you can't have vehicles everywhere the terrain that you're in you know might be not feasible for vehicles so you need to get a group of blokes from one area to a next as a body and men in uniform and it's not just about the speed across the ground that speed marching allows you know every time you finish a speed march you should be you shouldn't be coming across the line absolutely flaked you should be coming across the line ready to get in a fight the speed march get you to the start line of the fight and then you've got the fight which is part of it we're heading straight for that in single file the threat as we move across there is obviously to the left be aware of that she is not just the case of getting from A to B in an intercept time with the way in the he is you are potentially going to be getting shot up I get read in to you from an early stage so you know regardless of the distance you are doing the regardless of terrain you need to be fit enough so that when you get to the finish line that's not the finish that's the start what we run ahead I'm 45% why on your race pace to our perfect [Music] we win as bhoot Nexus Royal Marines because we don't give all like the Falklands in 82 you know the 56 miles they did over three days you know arias and fantastic you know tribute to them the Royal Marines jump across the Falklands to help take back Port Stanley from the Argentinians has gone down in legend where they got to the objective the Argentinians thought it was absolutely impossible that anybody could possibly cover that ground in that time with that way the war means did it it was that determination and it was that resilience to do something that was totally unexpected that actually won the day our speed March this time will we think it back to the guys from the Falklands our brothers our forefathers who have gone before and that's a source of inspiration to us I've got some line 47 pace guys about four minutes to your hydration step hey buddy let's have a quick watch check I've got five point eight seven miles 945 average pace the Portman's raw was gut-wrenching hard young Pete huge amounts of kickin equipment terrible terrain whereas if you look at Afghanistan certainly in the early years that was fast shooting firing posing with the enemy but even that changed [Music] IEDs relate down improvised explosive devices meant that we were conducting slower more deliberate movement still an extreme challenge in extreme heat up to 50 degrees carrying huge amounts of Khitan equipment see I mean Afghan in 2011 I was based down in a place with Toki which we knew was going to be highly contested when we went there there was a lot of contact areas they would come in on us from and unfortunately due to this sort of lay of the land they could get quite close to our checkpoint so they were using that to their advantage for lane ided belts and stuff like that you could be the best soldier in the world and unfortunately you could still get hurt a lot of the lads that have been injured or killed a very experienced lads very good soldiers and yeah with with this ID phrase it is a numbers game there's not really many drills that you can do to to stop that from happening so I'm gonna warfare so there are different sorts of speed mulching some of it fast and furious some of it slow and meticulous either way it's at best exhausting and at worst back-breaking you need to keep on top of your fitness washer out there I mean you you are on patrol every day and you know 4 6 8 12 hours a day we didn't exactly have a fully fledged gymnasium going on but we improvised massively we just got some sandbags that we filled up got some ammo containers and we filled up with sand and and we didn't provides with you know bodyweight circuits or you know very basic bits of kit that we could make to use as weights and then just do shuttle runs up and down the little vine field that we had in our in our checkpoint near [Music] the thing is when you are under contact is you've got such a burst of adrenaline so your adrenaline keeps you put pushing you know and again it's it's working for the blown HT working for the bait to the side because if you give up there's potential that they're gonna be hurt so you have to keep pushing in that all you know goes hand in hand with this challenge that's the only real uphill bit we've got okay that's at the ten point five more point and about three quarters of a mile I'm going to be constantly monitoring them every mile every step all the way so that we can understand exactly what situation we're in ten to a nice week they like still evades us I'm going to be speaking to him oh I know London very well I'm a Londoner so at various points you might even see me giving them a little bit of London history about some of the landmarks left turns about a quarter mile I'll take this up toward 9:00 he'll Paddington area proper parties middle-class rugby supporting Brigade blessin he knows his Trippi of London yeah that's for sure I mean he was brought up in her in South London and he just give you some some strange wondrous facts tell me what you'll see high pole to the wall and sight and Kensington Gardens Polly finding the place okay okay that's great let's keep it going all right Scotty Scotty Scotty Scotty yeah he's just glad to be here he's usually the fluent but he just loves a lot fing giggle and you can hear him yammering on at the back but not much goes in their head and he just doesn't shut up nice and steady [Music] [Music] it's hyde park corner we've already been once tonight they've got the Battle of Britain a war memorial there which it was a loner who are about few years ago I'll show it to you where we go past zombats or Chad good nap regards wait on keep it going this is about inspiration that human spirit may endeavor that willingness never ever to give in believe in yourself and anything seven miles in and they're just about on world-record pace they have to keep this up for another 20 miles and they're bound to get slow and remember if just one man fails they all fail Royal Marines now about a third of their way to their Maryland speak much okay come on out there is still a long way to go but the pain is already beginning to bite speed marching or jumping is part of a Royal Marines DNA it's bred in the bone from the beginning as recruits embark on the longest and hardest military training in the world on the very first day of training we build up a progressive program which includes speed marching first of all they're doing trainers they put boots on without equipment then we build it up very gradually increasing the distance from four to six to nine miles where this culminates and one of our commando tests at the end is the nine miles feed march where you have to carry your equipment 21 pounds of kit and a nine pound rifle as a body of men exactly the same as they did an informant the same didn't Afghanistan and the same will be doing on this world record I've seen young men's hearts broken by failure many times I've seen some give up I've seen some show that resilience and that willingness never to give up and those are the ones that we want who don't necessarily want the fastest the fittest the war Marines want the young men who will never ever ever gone to give up yeah one of the wrong Marines bigger attributes is determination we've taken this determination to this next degree this enth degree you get through it because you don't give up because you determined I can't emphasize how important that is I think it's trying to get in that lighting and Steve's running it okay for Steve's lighting I think that determination is a central pillar of the Royal Marines ethos and with it comes Lowell t courage unselfishness and cheerfulness in the face of adversity virtues all Marines hold dear and what is sustaining them tonight on the rain-soaked streets racing line doing wild 12. 6 done two hours five but this commitment didn't just start tonight they've been digging deep in preparation for the world record of the past year in fact many Marines tried out for the world record team and every one of the final eight chosen had to show just what he was made of only the very best have come through the training and we spent as much time as we can together get to know the ins and outs of how each other tick bringing us ever closer so that when it comes to the crunch and I'm sure that it will there'll be a point where we need to dig from the very deepest of our reserves okay turn left quick time a little walk out the body energy systems just kicking a little bit and I know what will inspire the lads to go beyond their limit is the man to the left of them the man to the right of them who they've done this training with some of the team have put their lives on hold for this world record during the year of training that we've done this time around some of sacrificed holidays to have sacrificed honeymoons it means that much to the team it means that much to them it means that much to me I'll do anything for these lads okay so running just break yourself off and go and sort yourself out Brotherhood or comradeship is the lifeblood of any fighting force whether they're faced with frontline combat or as in this case a seemingly impossible challenge now that you're part of this team you in it this is a team effort I mean you guys about a feel for this now you see the level of preparation that's required because you guys have been putting in which really appreciate because it gives us a real good start set in a real good feel when we first met up one of the first things that Scotty said to us was have a reason why you're doing this and I've never told anyone my reason why but it is because you know I've done to really kinetic high and high tempo operations in Afghanistan and you sort of come back and you feel that it's just all very everything's the same everything's very slow-paced and I feel like I needed something to really aim for to be nervous about and to to focus on and this seemed like the thing to do so this is about the war means getting this world record in my heart that's why I feel as well you but we will move mountains to get this road back all cracked good effort most Daniel strikes come in a minute lovely bit nice little shakeout bit breezy in your face enjoy one of the major elements to this event is it is a team event and to be able to get the world record all eight others have to get across the line and within the the record time for it to stand and I think that's playing on everybody's mind a little bit just because you know you're thinking I don't wanna let this team down I don't want these guys down this team that's gone the next step being a good team to a great team from a great team to our world record team what's the difference well we've had a conscious decision to get to know each other better and understand what drives us and why we're here I think everything boils down to Scalia the end today the Lud's if you if you asked all all a of us ever return up and say you know I'm not gonna have to give up because sky needs this and he needs it more than us a well given a lot of my life to this it's been five years five years of endeavor this means a huge amount to me first the temples in 2012 second attempt in 2013 and this is the third and my final attempt in 2017 the amount of people that I've met along the way the amount of lives that we've affected positively the amount of people that have come together as a corn as a family and as a team this means a huge amount to us all and to then and to lead that means a huge amount to me I was never going to turn under Scottie and say sorry mate I ain't doing it I you know for whatever reason because it would it would break his heart and I know he needs it more than we do the eight-speed marchers now have their heads down the challenge is really beginning to bite their calves and quads will be stiffening their backs beginning to rub raw with the weight it's time for some of that famous Royal Marine cheerfulness in the face of adversity anybody notice the rain stopped while still Daniel one an hour but the team cannot afford to slow or that record will be lost get the breeze coming on each man has a dedicated support runner who keeps him watered and supplied with glucose caffeine tablets and any details without the support runners this would be a totally impossible task I pocket that way keep an eye out for the Gucci car Sal show runs in a minute down the left-hand side you know on that day it's going to be not just where an individual he is in terms of body and mind with where the team are and it's going to take all eight of us on the day and not just the eight of us you know the support staff as well they're going to be there and everybody's gonna have to be in the right frame of mind at that particular point four hours into a very grueling event to be able to get through the pressure is mounting the pain is mounting and yet everyone knows the worst is yet to come the Royal Marines are halfway through their attempt to break the world record for a marathon speed March the physical effort will be hurting more and more with each stride it's mind over matter all the way you can get yourself physically fit enough to do it as long as you put the hours in it's whether you're mentally strong enough to keep pushing at the same pace you need to have that mental state of robustness you know when your legs are screaming and you're in your shoulders are hurting from the way and everything's feeling like you've got no energy left it's your mind that will give you that extra push you know even if it's the last 200 meters mentally you've got you've got to go until you physically cross up that white line what's your [ __ ] liquid slippy how ideal the pain when it gets to extreme levels as I embrace it I say you know come on god is this all you've got when I'm going through this pain I'm trying to record in my mind trying to save it for life because it doesn't happen every day under man great stuff roads good it felt towards the latter stages while I'm expecting these guys to go into their own their arms on that kind of individual zones or now a little bit and you'll find guys going within themselves a little go into that dark place that I mentioned and it's just a case of trying to put those emotions to one side and story choose to call that apatheia you say let's go for where you essentially just get in to grips with the task at hand you put in anything you can control outside you just fortune off things you can control it's 6:00 a. m.
after just over two hours hard running they passed Buckingham Palace don't you wake up end up in the tower I'd certainly draw parallels between the role Marines and the Stoics you know same sort of hard set hard mindset and you know perseverance determination and that kind of thing it's just it's instilled within us and it was instilled within and then as years ago full tune done 40 miles cracked 949 average looking good boys mens sana in corpore a sauna Latin it means sound in body sound in mind and it's the motto of the wall means physical training branch our physical training gets us to a point where we have that physical confidence so that we're mentally ready to push ourselves through to that limit of where we've been in training we talked about train hard and fight easy that's one of the mantras of the long range we push ourselves to our limits and beyond in training so in operations when a similar situation comes up we've been there already there are 18 painful miles behind but still they must run into the night with every stride the weight on their backs gets heavier Scottie must now guide his runners through the remaining hours of darkness and towards the first light of dawn he must drive them and also encourage them and he won't do by shouting Scottie will do it his way sounds power set to London Westminster during great cause in victoria street named after a majesty 1837 to 1901 tank I don't know what you sitting on as an average but I've got 949 we need to make sure we don't go any slower than 90 okay 930 pace please over 80 miles done go buy one time everything in council south from then come to the world pupil volume itself London is mostly sports people we go further and Lennox Lewis David Haye mostly black to be fair might get tween just sunlight in a minute fabulous happen boys this is the Lambuth why any evening any day you'll find us all during the lamb before great Caesar cz don't sit down more pleading why don't you make your way there go there stay there and if you go to ground Lambeth way any evening or any day your prime me do it in the round before right here you go Simon Cowell what do you think yes I'm not kicking in big star plots also Parliament turn left 6. 6 miles to go looking good looking good keep calm no problem keep that mentality fabulous effort so far okay that's good to his right Oh Staniel odds keep Sookie - let's keep going tell you my mom's the bulk of the miles are now behind but as with any marathon it is in the last few miles good athletes hit the infamous war the point at which exhaustion can stop any runner dead in his tracks even if they're not carrying 40 pounds on their back so toward the end of the the event itself I'm just expecting to be completely fatigued physically I'm mentally the guys would put so much so much effort into it and it'll just be yeah it will be worth it it's mile 22 just over four miles to go but one speed marker is already beginning to suffer it's not immediately clear who it is but the support runners are clearly concerned go go go people the one I think the hardest thing about it will be getting all eight of you across the line instead of just one and viewer if you were doing just on your own but obviously speed marching is a is a team effort it's not an individual F it's a team effort and getting all eight of you across the line is where where the efforts gonna have to be put at Mile 22 mile 23 if you're having a dark time and you feel this is it I'm gonna stop now you're gonna have to work together you're gonna have to make sure that when people going through bad stages you can help them out when they're going through good stages they can help other people [Music] just hang in there it's now apparent that the man's suffering is mag's acquire the stoic he knew he'll be suffering at this stage but right now with just a mile to go it looks like he might not make it he's running on empty already people are thinking back to 2013 with Dave parrot collapsed the last mile is history about to repeat itself people may be aware there's been previous mishaps a mile to go something happened I know AJ I've had my own thoughts you know we thought about carrying dragging he said that Fineman carrying a guy last push last push you know is he can't leave that last man behind like we've always been taught it's downhill from here on in okay just came through now Evo denim saw them start pushing them just be marched philosophy of running behind in from next to someone throughout imagine that we've gone to pieces by then and we'll kind of just just be just be winging it as a group trying to get everybody over the line why don't you start the training with the lads and you get to know the lights you actually start to do it for all I don't know let I don't want to let Nick down or I don't want to let max me down or whoever it is next to you close you feel that those other seven blokes who put all that training in for this challenge for you to just give up now that's not going to happen you know you're not going to do that and that's not the way they're all Marines works anyway so we're going to be so close we're so close with a couple of hundred means to the finish line no doubts how come you doubt I know I'm going to be dragging and pushing people for that point we're going to get that man over the line 200 meters regardless there'll be a point where we need to dig from the very deepest of our reserves we will leave everything out on that I give everything that we possibly can never leave behind we never leave anyone behind you're not renowned for giving go all night nothing will ever stop us and if that resilience I've seen in this tape I mean all of these men can we have a medic on this young man please let's get a medic on him we need a medic [Music] official accuses me to weigh the kid time when he comes over he's like only kid here Rod's only click down it needs to be white the race is done every man across the line Madge dug deeper than he's ever dug before it has it all been in vain have the Marines broken that world record they've been chasing for five years [Music] the adjudicators are checking for watches breathe ok ladies and gents everybody close in please coming from within skies today I'm emotional from five years of a life during this and these incredible guys and this amazing sport team we've just added ratified that they broken the world record [Applause] we smashed it [Applause] Scottie's team had knocked 2 minutes 24 seconds of the former world record after five years of trying including two heroic failures they can at last claim victory [Music] [Applause] or Canada the Marines were about to receive some shocking news Guinness World Records refused to ratify that tonight the reason believe it or not they said they were wearing the wrong trousers but they shouldn't have been in these modern standard-issue trousers but the same ones that were worn when the record was set 20 years ago those were known as military denims and have long been out of production Scotty lodged an immediate appeal but for him this record is not about trousers but the bend where even I know in our heart of hearts that the boys have done the 26.
