Rich and Megan MacDonald are celebrating their 20th wedding anniversary and they are still inseparable. It helps that they’re handcuffed.
The couple ran the 2023 Servus Calgary Marathon on Sunday morning bound together by a chain on their wrists.
“It was amazing,” Rich said after the race. “Megan did great. At about 36 kilometres she said ‘for a 10 year anniversary you got me diamond earrings and for our 20 year anniversary you made me do this.'”
The Calgary couple broke a Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon by a mixed couple handcuffed together. The MacDonalds’ finished the 42.2 km event in 3:18:38, 25 minutes faster than the previous world record.
The couple already has five GWRs between them.
Their efforts raised more than $8,000 for MitoCananda, a charity that helps support and protect Canadians living with or at risk of developing mitochondrial disease.
“It was pretty special to do it with Rich,” Megan said.
“It’s a pretty neat way to celebrate and seal our bond a little bit more. It was tough out there. I felt like I was pushing pretty hard but Rich was a good cheerleader.”
The couple said one of the biggest challenges is keeping the rhythm for that long a period of time.
“They are both exceptionally fit people. It can’t be understated how big of an accomplishment that is,” said Jon Bird, interim executive director for Run Calgary.
Fortunately, Calgary runners did not have to suffer through terrible air quality as a result of the wildfires.
Last week, the full marathon in Red Deer was canceled and runners were moved to the half marathon.
“We were deeply concerned that we would be faced with 7+ (air quality) and have to reduce and modify or cancel,” Bird said.
Some people moved their training indoors and some marathoners scaled back to compete in the 10k instead.
“We saw a reduction in our numbers. I would say about 500 or 600 runners less than we were projecting. We still have a really strong year – stronger than pre-pandemic … We’re excited about that,” Bird said.
The women’s marathon was won by Maria Zambrano in 2:48:02. Lance Risseeuw won the men’s event in 2:36:04. Both winners are from Calgary.
A total of 9,259 runners, wheelers and walkers participated in the Servus Calgary Marathon on Sunday.
The event raised more than $475,000 for charity. Over 1,000 volunteers were involved.
To top it off, 22,000 Rum and Butter chocolate bars were handed out this year.
That was part of the 130,000 excess bars Canadian Candy Nostalgia gave away in Alberta after pandemic delays left the local company with a surplus.