The 2025 TCS London Marathon marks Chris Green’s 113th marathon. A green runner by name, readers may know him better by his other moniker, Rhino Boy.
Chris has been running for almost two decades as a rhino, but tells me he had a few misgivings about signing up to The Green Runners – this will be the first year of him running as a fully signed up TGR member. More on that later.
As he toes (hooves?) the marathon start line, he knows that a completion this year will see him take the Guinness World Record for ‘Most Marathons Run in the Same Three Dimensional Costume’ – catchy, huh.
He previously set the record for Fastest Marathon Dressed as A Mammal, but now he fully embraces spending the longest time out on the course, meeting people, spreading awareness for Save the Rhino for whom he is ambassador, and soaking up the atmosphere. “It’s all about community, this is the essence of everything,” he says.
“Two decades of plodding around on my hooves, and I’ve learned that if we could all channel our inner rhino, that would be great. The only way we can ever effect change is by working together.”
There will be 14 rhinos running the London Marathon this year – Chris’s tireless campaigning on behalf of his beloved charity is clearly paying off, and rhinos are multiplying fast.
So why his misgivings about TGR? Aligning so naturally with what our pillars stand for, and how we work together as a community sounds like the perfect fit.
“Really it was always meant to be,” he tells me. “I have many many friends from TGR, I would always make a beeline for anybody I saw making a statement and a stand. It’s totally aligned with the way I think and it works like a rhino in the way that saving an umbrella species saves the whole ecosystem. It speaks to the whole of humanity, but equally, and this was the heart-felt moment for me, I know I can be a hypocrite.
“I went to Kenya last year. I went on a long-haul flight, and that doesn’t all sit right with me.
“The thing is, I was super excited – it was the trip of my life and the way I reasoned with it was that it was for the greater good, but at every opportunity I try to offset that.
“I also work in removals and I have to drive trucks. I see the good in moving people – both physically and emotionally, in their lives, but if I had my way I’d be a full time rhino!
“I didn’t want to be a hypocrite, I’m also not a complete herbivore yet, so I feel I’m far from perfect.
“I didn’t know if I should put myself in a position where I was contradicting myself.”
Reassuring Rhino Boy that being a member of The Green Runners is about progress, not perfection, he’s now fully on board. He’s always been doing his bit, and a whole lot more. He hates the single-use plastic bottles used on so many organised events, and favours his reusable cup. Equally, he can appreciate the kindness of people when they’re offering him things he doesn’t need, pushing them into his rhino costume!
He says: “It was like a counter-contradiction holding back from TGR. I know 99.9% of people are awesome. I see the very best of people wearing a rhino suit. I see someone who might be intimidating become like a little kid. I make the most unusual friendships and community is what this is all about.
“I’ve now fully embraced The Green Runners, and I’m so happy. I only wish that I’d joined sooner.”
Chris is the epitome of our How We Speak Out pillar. He’s already hosted five school visits this year to educate the next generation about the plight of the rhino.
“If you could bottle the energy that children have you would have an elixir. If I could run the marathon straight after a school visit then I’d probably win! They are full of such great ideas. I think about the children, the ones I met in Africa too. We owe it to them to build a legacy for a healthy environment.”
Support Chris’s cause on his Just Giving Page
Chris may be one of our newer members taking the start line of London Marathon, but we also have other members dressed in less cumbersome costumes who are also doing awesome things for the planet.
Also representing The Green Runners at London Marathon…..
Carol Wilson is travelling to and from the event by sleeper train from Aberdeenshire, using her own hydration pack and carrying her own cup for top ups.
She’ll be wearing trainers repaired with Pair Ups which have also had the soles replaced. Part of what she’s wearing is also second hand.
Look out for Carol on the telly on Sunday, too, as she’s been filmed by BBC as part of their pre-London coverage!
In his prep for London, Dave Vickerstaff has been upcycling old running shoes and giving them a new purpose. He said his recovery sliders have been particular effective after long training runs, but he’s also created a bedside light and a medal hanger out of old shoes!
Good luck to all our runners taking part in this year’s TCS London Marathon and taking greener steps along the way!