Royal Marines Break Speed March World Record

Eight serving and former Royal Marines smashed the Speed March World Record over the weekend, a record that’s stood unbroken for nearly 20 years.

The attempt started at 10 Downing Street at 4am on Saturday morning and finished in Pall Mall in a record time of 4 hours, 16 mins and 43 seconds. The attempt broke the previous world record set by 29 Commando Royal Artillery in 1998 by over 2 minutes.

A Speed March is a combination of marching and running and forms one of the four Commando Tests that every Royal Marine must pass to earn their green beret.

The Speed March World Record distance is a full marathon distance of 26.2 miles and must be completed carrying a weight of 40lbs or more. Importantly, every team member that starts must finish or the attempt doesn’t count. The team nature of the event is one of the reasons why the Royal Marines are world leaders in it.

Selection for this World Record attempt started back in March 2017, with a dedicated training programme and regular group progress checks, that resulted in the elite team running today.

Major Scotty Mills led the physical training programme and Ray Mead organised logistics on behalf of The Royal Marines Club.

The World Record Speed March was organised by The Royal Marines Club, a branch of the Royal Marines Association, in partnership with The Royal Marines Charity and commercial sponsors including Patron Capital, Captive Minds, High Performance Development and BMW Park Lane.

Roger Dobson, CEO of The Royal Marines Club says: “The atmosphere here is electric. It’s no wonder this record has stood for nearly 20 years and I’m in no doubt this team’s efforts today will last for many years to come.”