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The Dartmouth
March 29, 2024 | Latest Issue
The Dartmouth

Rex Woodbury ’15 runs suited half-marathon

Rex Woodbury '15 smiles while running the half-marathon.
Rex Woodbury '15 smiles while running the half-marathon.

Last December, Rex Woodbury ’15 came across an article about a recent Guinness World Record for the fastest half-marathon run in a business suit. The record was held by Gihan Amarasiriwardena — co-founder of menswear company, Ministry of Supply — set at 1 hour 24 minutes and 41 seconds. On March 21, Woodbury put on a suit and ran 13.1 miles in 1 hour, 18 minutes and 41 seconds.

Woodbury is not the current record holder just yet, as his application is still being reviewed and verified by the Guinness World Records. There are currently 16 open applications for this record. The process to break the record requires a submission to the Guinness website and a submission of specific evidence requested once the application is approved, said Sofia Rocher, public relations and digital coordinator for Guinness World Records.

Woodbury’s former track coach at Dartmouth, Barry Harwick ’77, was impressed by the run.

“That would be a good time for a half-marathon even if he just had regular running clothes on,” he said. “He must have been working very hard to be able to achieve a time like that,”

Woodbury said that compared to Dartmouth, the professional world can feel more monotonous and setting goals like breaking this record let him have fun outside of a regular routine.

He added this race fits his personality, which was further shaped when he came out at Dartmouth.

“The record was sort of tailor made for me, no pun intended, in that I spend so much of my time in a suit that would be a little ironic to run a race in out,” he said. “It’s also a fun way to combine two big parts of my life — business and finance and the other is my love for running.”

Woodbury had never run a half-marathon before but had been running approximately that distance almost everyday while he was on the track team in high school and college. Woodbury said the running he did while on the Dartmouth team built up an aerobic base that prepared him for the race. He did not practice in a suit at all before the race. He also completed the New York City Marathon last fall.

“I figured it wouldn’t slow me down that much,” Woodbury said. “I just figured it would be sort of uncomfortable and that I may as well get in the best shape without a suit and then see if I could do it. It was definitely a little uncomfortable, but I don’t think it slowed me down much.”

Woodbury wore a suit specially made for him by the custom suit company My.Suits, which sponsored him for the race. After dry-cleaning the suit, he continues to wear it to work. Meili Eubank ’15, Woodbury’s close friend from college and current colleague, said the record came as no surprise because it so closely fits his personality.

“He always tends to push himself and dares to be different,” Eubank said. “I think this is the perfect event for him because its the culmination of everything he is right now in terms of his external goals.”

Woodbury was recruited to Dartmouth as a middle-distance runner for the track and field team and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the College with a major in economics.

In high school, he was awarded the Wendy’s High School Heisman award both for the Arizona state level and the national level. The award recognizes students who excel in both athletics and academics. The award recognized not only his running skills but also his ability to excel in many aspects of his life, Harwick said.

During Woodbury’s sophomore year at Dartmouth, he came out as gay, one of the first student athletes to do so. He went on the create the Connect Mentoring Program, which matches mentors and mentees who identify as LGBT interested in the fields of business, consulting, marketing and other similar industries, Eubank said.

At Dartmouth, Woodbury was injured for much of his time on the team due to overtraining. He did not compete for the school for the last two years of his time at school, Harwick said.

“Sometimes there is a stereotype that at Dartmouth that athletes are just focused on their sport, but that was not Rex at all,” Harwick said. “He had a lot of interests and he is someone who would stand out in a crowd. This marathon was a good indication of his outlook on life.”

Eubank said that moving away from the track team let Woodbury focus on academics and explore other parts of Dartmouth as his life before his injury had been much more about running.

Woodbury credits Dartmouth for giving him the training skills from running around Upper Valley and the professional skills he uses at his current job. He plans to run the Chicago marathon this coming fall.

“I think I am going to go back to being a normal investment banking analyst and probably going to go to the gym in shorts and a t-shirt,” Woodbury said. “But who knows what will come across my radar soon.”