Running News Daily

Japanese runner solves 420 Rubik's cubes during marathon

The Rubik’s cube is known as one of the toughest puzzles, which can be unscrambled in millions of ways. Kei Suga of Japan made deciphering the puzzle a little harder, solving a mind-blogging 420 cubes while he ran a marathon in his hometown of Kashiwa City, Chiba Prefecture.

Suga had a time limit of five hours to break the previous Guinness World Record of 254 cubes. He took four hours and thirty minutes to finish the marathon while completing a Rubik’s cube every 100m.

“I have been training for this record for 10 years,” says Suga. When he began running with Rubik’s cubes, he found he was able to solve one in 30 to 50 seconds. Since 2013, Suga has competed in several marathons each year.

Suga solved the Rubik’s cube for the first time in 2006. In the same year, he competed in his first World Cube Association event.

“My goal for the marathon was to solve and collect one every 100m on the course,” says Suga. He had a friend filming the challenge, as well as someone running beside him and passing him 30 different Rubik’s cubes on rotation. Suga used 60 cubes in total and ran 14.5 laps of a three-kilometre course. 

“At the end of each lap, I exchanged 30 solved cubes for 30 scrambled cubes,” says Suga.

The previous record of 254 cubes was set by New Zealand’s Blair Williamson at the 2017 Christchurch International Marathon.

“I know I can’t solve the Rubik’s cube as fast as others but I question if I am the fastest runner among people who can solve Rubik’s cube,” Suga said on his motivation behind the record.

Suga’s new world record is currently unofficial and pending certification from Guinness World Records. According to Suga, the record is scheduled to be certified in early 2023.