Briton dressed as viola smashes Indian’s Guinness World Record

Alistair Rutherford from Birmingham Conservatoire in England broke the record set by Rakshith Shetty. Alistair wore a custom-made viola costume by designer Brian D Hanlon comprised of lightweight Plastazote foam in Liverpool on Sunday. He went past the previous record by seven minutes and 25 seconds in a time of one hour, 19 minutes and 32 seconds. 

The previous record was set by Shetty of Karnataka on December 5, 2015. The Indian runner ran the SBI Bengaluru Midnight Marathon while dressed as a guitar. “I am absolutely delighted to have broken the record but, more importantly, I have nearly tripled my fundraising target to over 1,500 pounds (USD 1,867) in the process,” Alistair, who hails from Allerton in Liverpool, said. 

The outfit comes complete with a striking headpiece that mimics the shape of the viola’s neck and pegbox. Alistair ran in support of the collaborative UK-South African project, Cape Gate MIAGI Centre for Music and Birmingham Conservatoire or ARCO, which is also the name for the technique of playing a stringed instrument with a bow. 

ARCO has seen 24 students aged between eight and 16 in South Africa selected to participate in weekly instrumental Skype lessons given by academics, current students and alumni of Birmingham Conservatoire, part of Birmingham City University. 

ARCO aims to provide the benefits and life changing inspiration of music to children in the most deprived of circumstances. Besides providing transformative music education activities, Conservatoire staff and students, including Alistair, have been acting as role models for vulnerable youngsters living in Soweto, a Johannesburg township deeply affected by poverty and crime.