Just two weeks into 2025, Benjamin Lim of Kuala Lumpur might have delivered the marathon performance of the year at Sunday’s Twincity Marathon in Cyberjaya, Malaysia. Running in a pair of white flip-flops and black socks, Lim completed the 42.2-kilometre race in three hours and four minutes, finishing ninth overall.
To put Lim’s time into perspective, he maintained an average pace of seven minutes per mile (4:20/km), clocking a speed of nearly 14 km/h—all while wearing footwear better suited for the beach than a marathon course. Whether he finished blister-free remains unclear, but his accomplishment is nothing short of remarkable.
Lim crossed the line just 13 minutes behind race winner Afiq Saniy, who finished in 2:50:43. While Lim wasn’t officially chasing any records, his time unofficially obliterates the current Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon in flip-flops (3:37:27), held by Australian runner Alistair Kealty.
His finishing time was just over nine minutes shy of the qualifying standard of two hours and 55 minutes for the 2026 Boston Marathon in the men’s 18-34 age bracket. The qualifying time was lowered by five minutes from the previous three hours for the 2026 race in September 2024.
Lim’s unusual footwear choice in an era dominated by carbon-plated running shoes epitomizes grit. Completing a marathon in flip-flops is one thing; running it at a fast pace is another.
In a sport driven by innovation, Lim’s accomplishment proves (sometimes) that all you need to run a marathon is heart—and maybe a sturdy pair of flip-flops.
