Leeds man breaks eighth Guinness World Record after 'World Cup idea'

Matthew Akpan has become known for breaking records for charity

A Leeds man has broken his eighth Guinness World Record.

Matthew Akpan, 37, known for breaking world records for charity, like running marathons and half-marathons dressed as John Cena, has broken his eighth by running the fastest half-marathon dressed as a referee.

As it was a new record he was setting, Guinness World Record gave him a target of two hours and 15 minutes – but he smashed that time in one hour and 47 minutes to set the record on the 2026 AJ Bell Great North Run half marathon on Sunday, September 13. He is no just waiting for the company to give the record their official rubber stamp of approval.

Matthew, who has Asperger's syndrome and Teaching Assistant Learning Mentor at a Special Educational Needs and Disabilities [SEND] school, takes on challenges to help raise money for charity and spread awareness of learning difficulties. He raised more than £300 for Scope with his latest record breaking achievement.

Matthew said: “I got the idea watching the World Cup. A referee does multiple things on the pitch, he can be recognised even more than a general player, that was the kind of idea around it. The biggest thing was we were in Newcastle and because of the black and white with the magpie, I thought I'd get cheers all around - which I did – so those were the main reasons.”

His eight records include the following:

• The Fastest Male Marathon dressed as a wrestler
• The Fastest Half marathon male dressed as a wrestler
• Guessing the most amount of WWE wrestlers theme tunes in one minute (achieved twice)
• Participation Record for running the London marathon 2026 as the largest amount of runners to complete a marathon
• The fastest half marathon male with a intellectual impairment
• The fastest marathon male with a intellectual impairment
• The fastest half marathon male dressed as a referee ('pending Guinness's approval)

Matthew, who has recently become a part of the ITV Diversity and Inclusion Panel, hopes to next take part in a reading marathon and netball aid to help break more records. Matthew is also going to campaign to protect legal right to support for children with SEND.

Matthew said: “The Campaign is important, as for myself who is in teaching, I know that one to one support is key because every individual learner is different. If that support for each learner is taken away, then the learners who are at a less progressive stage of development and in the initial stages feel more comfortable in a one-on-one scenario until we can.

"If we nurture them to build the skills they need to develop is taken away then those pupils are more likely to slip through the net and leave school without the life skills necessary for them to be successful in their life and more importantly be their most authentic selves.”