Kelly Gneiting, a hospital statistician and sumo wrestler from Arizona, will secure the official world record if he completes the Los Angeles marathon in California on Sunday.
Mr Gneiting, 40, said he wanted to run the 26-mile race as an inspiration to “people who are overweight, have low self-esteem and think they can’t achieve things”.
“I have high self-esteem and believe I can do anything,” he told the Daily Telegraph. “I’m big, but I feel like I have a talent for this.” Mr Gneiting, who is originally from Idaho, is 6ft tall and has a 5ft waist. He is a three-time American sumo champion and has represented the US at the world championships.
He said that his size made running uncomfortable. “It’s hard on my feet, my thighs and under my armpits,” he said. He plans to wear slick black Lycra leggings to prevent friction.
Mr Gneiting took up wrestling as a young man of average size, but began to gain weight. “Food is a bit of a weakness,” he said.
After exceeding the 265-pound limit for regular wrestlers, he started sumo.
He completed the LA marathon in 2008 but was not in contact with the Guinness World Record authorities. They stipulate that he must be filmed for the entire race and weighed before and after.
The current record for the heaviest marathon runner is just under 20 stone.
Mr Gneiting, who last time took 11 hours, 45 minutes, is aiming to finish in less than nine hours.
“I’m going to run as fast as I can,” he said. “So I can show all my critics”.
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