A SCOTSMAN has said he is “overwhelmed” and “delighted” after setting a new world record for running a marathon in full Highland dress at a race in Australia.
Portobello-born Nick Ghamgosar completed the Gold Coast Marathon while wearing a kilt, jacket, waistcoat, bow tie, socks and sporran in a new record time of 3:11:22 — a full six minutes inside the existing record.
His race time is now pending Guinness ratification, but once verified by officials, Ghamgosar will officially be crowned the fastest man to ever run a full marathon in a kilt.
Speaking to The National, Ghamgosar, also known as the “Kilted Runner Down Under” on social media, explained that he spent a “good chunk” of the race worrying he would not be able to cross the finish line.
“Delighted and totally spent,” he said when asked how he felt after crossing the finish line on June 5.
“I’d spent a good chunk of that race genuinely worried my body wouldn’t get me there, so to actually do it was a huge relief.
“I actually felt a lot of pressure in the days leading up to the race because of this worry and how public I’d made my goals. I didn’t want to let others or myself down."
He added: “Honestly, I’m quite happy not to work out for a wee while now.”
However, he said the crowd was a large part of how he was able to compete the race, saying they were “absolutely fantastic”.
“The crowd was one of the biggest reasons I got through it, frankly, because I was in a world of pain from the off,” he said.
He added: “Someone shouted ‘no Scotland, no party’ from the World Cup, which gave me a right laugh.”
Ghamgosar said some of his friends also joined him in the race where they played Flower of Scotland and a bit of bagpipe music to keep him motivated during various stretches of the track.
Stephen Molloy was previously the fastest man to run a marathon in full Highland dress, completing the Edinburgh Marathon Festival in 3 hours 17 minutes and 48 seconds on May 26, 2024.
He managed to cut 2 minutes and 24 seconds from the previous benchmark set by Canadian runner Benjamin Denis Bilyard.
Ghamgosar smashed Molloy’s time with his 3:11:22 time and said that he had been “almost overwhelmed” by all the messages of support, before and after the race.
He said: “The support, encouragement, love and sheer joy from family, old friends and new faces has been something else. It’s been an amazing community.
“I’m so grateful to my wife for always backing me to ‘follow my wee heart’s desires’ and for her encouragement, the time and space to make the training and record attempt possible, and the practical stuff too, prepping the kilt fit and the odd massage.
“All while being the best mum going and smashing her own gym, Hyrox and half-marathon goals.”
The 38-year-old, who is now based in Queensland, said that it is “hard” being so far away from his mum, dad and brother but added he “always feels their love” and that they are “always bigging me up” by spreading the Kilted Runner Down Under message to “bemused strangers” on trains back home.
Ghamgosar previously shared how his journey accidentally started with his social media name Kilted Runner Down Under rather than him setting out to break the record.
In his early twenties, he completed both the Edinburgh and London marathons, finishing each in around 3 hours 56 minutes, and it wasn’t until two years ago that he decided to train “properly” for 26.2 miles again.
He said he submitted an application to Guinness World Records for the full Highland kit category for the Gold Coast Marathon after fans of his online joked that he had “let them down” by not running in previous races in full Highland-wear.
“Last year I ran the Sydney Marathon in 2:55:27, a personal best for me as I’d already started my Kilted Runner Down Under account by then, but I ran it as a normal human in normal running gear. No kilt.
“I got a fair few disappointed texts afterwards: ‘where was the kilt?!’ So here we are — me finally living up to the namesake.
“There was also a stubborn bit of me that wanted to carry a bit of Scotland to the other side of the world and do something a wee bit special.”
He added that the Gold Coast Marathon was a “lovely flat course” but added that it was warm as there was no shelter from the sun.
This man just set the world record for running a marathon in full Highland dress. Portobello-born Nick Ghamgosar completed the Gold Coast Marathon while wearing a kilt, jacket, waistcoat, bow tie, socks and sporran in a new record time of 3:11:22 — 6 minutes inside the record. pic.twitter.com/tk2g4lVWzl
— The National (@ScotNational) July 13, 2026
“A marathon’s already a battle of managing your own exhaustion — do it in full Highland dress with nowhere for the heat to escape, and it becomes a different beast entirely,” he said.
Ghamgosar said that folk assumed that the kilt and sporran would be the hard part of the challenge, but in fact for him it was the shirt, waistcoat and jacket.
“All that layering just traps the heat with nowhere to go,” he said.
“On a warm, exposed Gold Coast morning, that’s brutal.”
He trained for 18 weeks ahead of the race, where he clocked around 1500km across 119 runs, with nearly 200 of those done in the kilt.
His efforts were also picked up across Australia as he appeared across local news channels and radio which he described the media fan fare as “surreal”.
“You’re a normal bloke from Portobello and suddenly you’re watching yourself on the telly in a kilt,” he added.
