Chris Edwin, 36, from Yorkshire, is attempting to break the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon ran whilst joggling.

Chris first started joggling during the pandemic. He had signed up to run the Manchester Marathon in 2021 and found he had lost all motivation to train for it. He then discovered joggling.

"During the pandemic I stopped running – I fell out of the habit and after six months of not doing any exercise, I tried running again and it just didn’t appeal to me," he said.

"Adding the juggling gave me that extra impetus and knowing I had four months to perfect it, it lit a fire in me to just do it."

Chris’s first joggling event was the Manchester marathon in October 2021 which he ran after joggling for approximately four months.

He said: “The crowds gave me so much energy, so much joy.

"Many people were saying ‘look at the juggler’ and some people were singing the circus tune. There was also one guy sitting on the side of the road who I think had had too much to drink. He was like, ‘oh, you’re an idiot.’ That was the best comment I got."

After the Manchester marathon, he started to meet other jogglers and made a lot of progress on his technique which meant he hardly ever dropped the balls and could focus on his speed.

I asked Chris how he feels when he joggles and he explained: "Once I'm in a rhythm, it feels amazing, it feels totally natural.

"People talk about the runners high and there’s definitely a jogglers high. With the jogglers high, I feel like even if someone came right in front of me I can dodge around them. I feel invincible as if I could never drop the balls."

Chris's favourite joggling event so far has been the Rob Burrow Leeds marathon which he participated in on the 12 May 2023, an event started in this year by the late rugby league player Rob Burrow.

He said: "The crowds were amazing and I was almost in tears for part of it because the crowds were supporting all the runners and it was just brilliant.

"Very hilly though - I felt like I'd been up Everest a couple of times!"

Last October 2023, Chris decided to go for a Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon ran whilst joggling at the Yorkshire Marathon. Canadian Michal Kapral currently holds the world record which he achieved at the 2007 Toronto Waterfront Marathon with a time two hours, 50 minutes and 12 seconds. On October 16, Chris achieved a time of 3 hours and 6 seconds. Coincidently, another joggler, Canadian Michael-Lucien Berger, was also running a marathon in Toronto on the same day, scored the exact same time of 3 hours and 6 seconds.

"It was incredible to find out we got the same time, the only reason I found out was because of Michal's tweet," Chris said.

He added: "I still hope to beat his record of 2h 50 minutes and 12 seconds and that time is now burnt into my mind!"

Chris would like to see more people getting involved in joggling and would love to see it in the Olympics.

He said: "I'd love to see it in the Olympics although that might take 30 years, I’ll probably be in my 80s.

"I’ll be one of the elder statesmen of joggling…The Olympics by 2060 – you never know!"

Perry Romanowski, 55, from Chicago, has been joggling everyday since November 2008

Perry first started joggling in 1996 when training for his first marathon in Chicago. He knew how to juggle and thought it would be fun to finish the marathon while juggling. He managed 19 miles of it whilst joggling and the following year joggled the entirety of the Chicago marathon. He hasn't looked back.

"I’ve gone 5686 days in a row without missing a day of joggling outside," he said.

He added: "And if you know anything about the weather in Chicago, outside running/joggling can be a challenge. There was one day where the temperature was -20F and I was still out there joggling."

He views joggling as a fun challenge that makes running more interesting.

He said: "I never really liked running much but when you add juggling, it’s just more fun for me.

"I wanted to break the world record for the fastest joggling marathon. I never did that but I did break the record for the fastest 50 miles done while juggling in 2007!"

His advice for those looking to joggle is to first get good at juggling and to not try to walk and juggle at the same time.

He explained: "Walking and juggling is a different cadence than running and juggling and running and juggling is nice because each time your foot is hitting the pavement, a bean bag should be hitting your hand."

Perry has a joggling blog which he updates everyday on his joggling streak. He records every single joggling run. He also participates in a joggling Facebook page Jogglers United to share stories and information about goings on in the world of joggling.

When I asked him if he could see joggling growing in the future, he explained that he does believe there is a limit to how big it can get.

He said: "It’s grown a lot since I started in 1996 and right now I would guess there are a couple thousand people worldwide who joggle.

"Maybe there could be 1000 more but not much bigger than that. It’s a niche activity with a cross over from runners and jugglers. Most runners don’t juggle and most jugglers don’t like running."

Nati Tuppen, 32, joggles at park runs and enjoys meeting people through joggling

Nati, who lives in Bristol, started joggling during the pandemic and tends to go joggling every few weeks.

She first came across other jogglers at a British Juggling Convention which happens once a year in a different city. When she was there there was someone running a joggling workshop so that people who could juggle could learn to joggle and after the workshop everyone went for a joggle along the seafront.

She explains that when people speak to her about joggling they usually think they’ll never be able to do it.

She said: “Anyone can learn, definitely, anyone can learn to joggle.

"It’s a nice way to meet new people because when people see you joggling they want to chat to you and it makes people smile.”

Her advice for anyone looking to get started with joggling is: “Get some juggling balls and have them in your kitchen. Every time the kettle is boiling, spend a couple of minutes practicing. Just do a little bit every day, and accept dropping as part of the process, because that's basically what juggling is. Every time you learn a new trick, you're dropping the balls lots while your brain learns the patterns.”

Her plan is to go to the European Juggling Convention this summer in Portugal, a big circus convention where they have activities like juggling as well as aerial and dance, even unicycling. She’s going by herself but will know other people there.

“It’s a nice community and it's all-volunteer based so the tickets are cheap,” she said.