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Two men have broken the record for visiting all 270 London Underground stations in the fastest possible time. Geof Marshall, 41, and Anthony Smith, 28, completed the feat – known as the ‘Tube Challenge’ – in 16 hours, 20 minutes and 27 seconds, beating the previous record by eight minutes.
The pair attribute their success to “a combo of athleticism and the ability to decode a Tube timetable.” Although they won’t reveal their exact route, they were willing to reveal that they started from outside of the Tube map and made their way into central London: “It’s like the wheels of a bicycle spoke – you start on the outside and then go back into London, everything comes into the middle,” Marshall said.
This marks Marshall’s 25th attempt to break the record. He had previously held it in 2004, with a time of 18 hours, 35 minutes and 43 seconds. Marshall, a freelance video producer, said that breaking the record takes “more skill than people think.”
The record attempt took place on August 16, but Guinness World Records took more than a month to verify that the record had been broken. Andy James and Steve Wilson held the previous record from May 2001, with a time of 16 hours, 29 minutes and 13 seconds.