AN AQUARIST from The Deep walked an extra seven miles after running the London marathon because he couldn't fit on public transport with his costume.
Graham Hill, science officer at Hull's aquarium, had to walk to his hotel after the event because he was wearing a cumbersome shark outfit.
Mr Hill, 42, said: "The outfit was 3m long. I had already sussed out there was no way I could get it on the Tube and the same thing applied to buses and taxis.
"So in the end walking back to the accommodation was my only option."
Mr Hill said got a lot of strange looks, while walking the full length of the Old Kent Road and even received a donation for The Shark Trust from someone eating at a kebab shop.
The idea of wearing a shark costume came to him when he earned a balloted place in the event.
This meant he could choose which charity to support and decided to run for The Shark Trust.
The much-maligned group of animals is under incredible pressure from fishermen for their fins.
Around 100 million sharks per year are slaughtered, putting many species on the endangered list. Mr Hill said he was "amazed" at the response he had received. He said: "People were calling out things like 'Shark man' and 'Sharky' all the way round.
"People wanted to shake hands and the pictures of me in the costume have gone round the world it seems, making the papers not only here but as far afield as Mexico, America, New Zealand and Australia.
"It did exactly what I had hoped, which was promote a charity very close to my heart."
After the event, while he was cooling down, another competitor came up to Mr Hill.
"The man came up to me and told me I was a rotten thing," said Mr Hill.
"He remembered me from the Silverstone half-marathon where I came sprinting past him at the finishing line in my costume and said I'd done it again today over the full distance."
At the moment Mr Hill has raised around £1,500 for The Shark Trust but has more money to come in.
If anyone still wants to contribute, they can go to uk.virginmoneygiv ing.com/HamHill to make a donation on his Virgin MoneyGiving web page.
