Rubiks Runner Targets London

4 APR2011

Less than two weeks now until the Virgin London Marathon and dozens of leprechauns, Supermen and marines with heavy back packs are eyeing up unusual records at the UK's biggest running event. One man who will be combining the physical demands of completing the marathon with a more cerebral challenge is Uli Kilian. Uli is planning to solve 100 Rubik's cubes over the 26.2 miles of the capital's classic.

Uli has been running for 6 years, his first big race was the Paris Half Marathon which he ran in 1:53, and he solved his first Rubik's cube in 2008. After a month he was able to solve the cube in about 3 minutes but he'd caught the bug and continued practicing a lot. Now his record is 21 seconds for a single solve. On average it takes Uli about 30 seconds to solve it in.

Uli plans to solve the 100 Rubik's cubes within 5 hours and set a new world record but there are a number of logistical issues that have to be mastered. Talking to www.runabroad.com he said: "It is much more complicated than you would think. First of all the running style is different because I cannot swing my arms when I'm holding a cube. Secondly, it has to be officially verified that I solved all the cubes myself according to Speedcubing competition rules. Therefore I need to solve 100 different cubes. I can't just take one and mess it up randomly after I solved it.

"However 100 cubes weigh 10 KG - that is too much for me to carry. So friends and family will hand me rucksacks with 20 scrambled cubes in from the side of the track. At the same time they will receive a rucksack with 20 solved cubes in. This will need to be very carefully coordinated so that I meet the right person in the right place at the right time."

You can watch Uli solving a cube while running and help him achieve his target of raising £3,000 for Prostate Cancer on RubiksRun.com.

You can read a full interview with Uli Kilian at the RunAbroad.com website.