A woman successfully finished a marathon wearing scrubs in an attempt to break the Guinness World Record for running a marathon dressed as a nurse. The only catch? They wouldn't give it to her because she wasn't wearing a skirt.
Jessica Anderson was told ahead of her London Marathon run on Sunday, April 28th that her attempt wouldn't count unless she was wearing a blue and white dress, an apron, and a traditional nurse's cap, CNN reports.
Apparently, her scrubs were too close to the uniform of a doctor, and therefore did not qualify as a nurse's uniform for the record. Anderson disagreed, saying, "Their definition is just so outdated. Some of the nurses I work with do wear dresses but mostly we wear scrubs or a tunic and trousers. I've certainly never seen a male nurse wearing a dress to work."
She continues, "I'm sure Guinness World Records don't intend to cause offence, but it would be nice if they decided to revise their criteria instead of reinforcing old gender stereotypes."
Her request to have the rules reconsidered were denied at first, but are now being reviewed. The organization said in a statement, "It is quite clear that this record title is long overdue a review, which we will conduct as a priority in the coming days."
Anderson's race beat the previous record's by 32 seconds, and she surpassed her fundraising goal of $660, gaining a total of $2,688 for the Acute Admissions Unit at the Royal London Hospital.