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Tyler Andrews of Concord, Massachussets broke the unofficial record for a treadmill half marathon Saturday at Marathon Sports in Boston. Watch Andrews set the record and talk about his feat above.

With 1.1 miles to go, Tyler Andrews was lagging six seconds behind the unofficial treadmill world record half marathon pace. Grimacing, sweat trickling down both temples, Andrews clicked the speed on the treadmill upward, the rapid-fire thump of his feet on the moving belt nearly drowning out the crowd’s encouraging cheers. The last two minutes of Andrews’ world record attempt were a portrait of endurance - punctuated by grunts, groans and the constant roar of the treadmill.

The 23-year-old native of Concord, Massachusetts kicked out an impressive 4:58 final mile, finishing in 1:07:18, 11 seconds faster than the previous world record held by Scottish distance runner Andrew Lemoncello.

As soon as he hit 13.1 miles, Andrews hit the stop button on the treadmill and slowly collapsed onto the floor of the Boston Marathon Sports store, where the event took place. Taking a moment to compose himself before looking up at the concerned crowd, Andrews whispered earnestly to his coach: “How fast did I run that last mile?”

Andrews spends most of the year in Quito, Ecuador where he trains at altitude and lays groundwork for Strive Trips, an organization that takes high school athletes to South America and Africa to train and work on community development programs. The treadmill world record attempt was organized by Strive as a way to raise awareness – and money – for Strive’s scholarship and community development programs.

“Running can be a pretty selfish sport,” Tyler said. “It’s about my PR, and my times, and me me me. But when I’m running for Strive I feel like I’m making it about something else – about bigger goals and about helping communities. And when we bring kids to these countries it makes their running about something greater too. I’ve always loved that balance of service and running.”

Asked about his next goal, Tyler rubbed his foot – nursing the ragged blister he didn’t notice bleeding through his lucky shoes during the half marathon record attempt. “I plan to take a few days off,” he said with a laugh. “And then I head back to Ecuador to continue training.”

Andrews says he’ll be back in Boston in April to run his first marathon, after receiving an invitation in compete in the Boston Marathon from the Boston Athletic Association. He plans to run it wearing his signature Strive singlet and shorts.

For information about Strive Trips, go to www.strivetrips.org

For more about treadmills, including reviews and workouts, go to the RW treadmill page.

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