The Malaysian Insight

JEFFRY Ross, a Scotsman living in Malaysia, is a man on a mission: to run 22 marathons throughout the year in silly costumes. His goal is to raise money for charity and to promote a fitter lifestyle.

The 47-year-old who owns an event management company is, however, no stranger to crazy ideas, having run the Gobi Desert marathon, which is a 250km run done in in °C50° heat.

“I like to challenge myself. I want to do it across the whole year because I think it’s easier to raise funds that way,” Ross told The Malaysian Insight.

“I work in the events sector, and it has been a tough two years. There is a chance that this year will also be tough, so I just wanted to do something which, at the end of the year, we can look back at and know that we did something positive and raised money. Even if everything else was lousy.”

So why 22 marathons? Simply because it’s the year 2022, Ross said.

Ross ran his first of 22 marathons on January 1 dressed as Santa Claus.

For the second marathon on January 23, he will be running in an inflatable sumo wrestler costume.“The only reason I’m wearing the costume is I want to make people laugh and smile. When you run around in a Santa costume people smile, and I like that.

“I want them to see exercise as fun and I also want to raise awareness about what we are doing, and raise money for charities.

“I figured no one would pay attention if it’s just me out running. But if I look ridiculous, then I might get more attention.

“It’s really important that people donate, and any donation is welcome. It doesn’t matter small or big,” the avid runner, who is a coach at Total Running Club, said.

‘Not without challenges’

Drawing inspiration from several hit shows on streaming giant Netflix, Ross will be doing his subsequent runs in costumes inspired by Money Heist and Squid Game, and maybe even in one of former United States president Donald Trump.

Running in costumes does not come without its challenges, and Ross’ biggest enemy is, undoubtedly, the weather, besides getting injured.

“I’ve committed to it, so I have to do it. A marathon is never easy; the heat of the costume is the biggest challenge. You’re going to sweat a lot more, it’s super hot.

“I’m not too worried about the time, it’s more about doing it, having fun and getting others involved. If it takes eight hours to get it done, I’ll take my time. Mostly, I hope it will be under four hours.”

In total, Ross will be running in 12 different costumes to raise RM200,000 for five charities.

“I’ve got five charities: The Malaysian Red Crescent Society in aid of the recent floods, The Lost Food Project, Paws Animal Welfare Society, Trap Neuter Release Manage and Yayasan Chow Kit.

“I tried to get a bit of everything because not everyone might want to give to the same charities as I would. I figured (at least) one of those would appeal to (someone) and the money would be split equally.

“To date, we have raised more than RM10,000. I’m using Simply Giving, a charity portal. They take care of the disbursement. Every month, they transfer the donations equally to each of the charities.”

Most of the marathons will be completed around Kuala Lumpur, but, where possible, Ross intends to try runs in Penang and Johor.

“All of the runs are in KL, but if I have to go overseas, then I’ll do it there. I’ll do one every two weeks. I might try to go up to Penang, and maybe Johor.”

He is also hoping that Malaysians will join him on his runs.

“I also want to use this as a chance to get people fitter, which is also one of my goals. Running can be fun, it doesn’t have to be boring.” – January 15, 2022.