On 5 October 2009, the capital city of Romania, Bucharest, marked the finish line for an attempt to set the Guinness World Records™ achievement for the greatest distance run by a relay team. The razor manufacturer Gillette had decided to organize the feat, undertaken by hundreds of athletes in the Gillette Phenomenal Tour team, to celebrate the release of the Gillette Fusion Phenom razor.

The course the organizers had chosen took the Gillette Phenomenal Tour team all around Romania, covering the North, South, East and West of the country.

People from all over the country heard about this tremendous attempt and turned up at various stages throughout the route to support and join in – at times it looked like a scene from a Rocky film, with everyone running with the baton holder. It was clear the whole nation was really behind the event and appreciated both the mental and physical strength of all the runners involved.

Like any standard athletics event, this world record relay attempt had to be continuous, with participants literally running day and night. if at any point during the relay a runner dropped or touched the ground with the baton, the record attempt would be over and all the hard work, organization and training would be for nothing.

After for over 14 extraordinary days of running both around the clock and the country, members of the Gillette team of runners headed towards the finish line in Herastrau Park on the 5 October 2009, having racked up an impressive distance of 3,096 Km (1,923 miles). Crowds of people greeted them as they set their new Guinness World Records achievement.

Adjudicated by Carl Saville

6 October 2009