On 17 April 2005 a 9-man squad from the Queen's Colour Squadron of the Royal Air Force completed a 26 mile ceremonial march during the 25th Flora London Marathon.
The squad, assisted by 6 support staff, completed in-excess of 300,000 drill movements during the march which took 6 hours and 55 minutes at the RAF drill regulation 30 inch pace at 116 paces a minute. The squad were all were dressed in full RAF ceremonial uniform and carrying drill rifles. Of particular note was the squads' footwear - traditional Second World War 'AP' boots - metal studded leather soles and leather made rock hard by melting beeswax into it with a blow torch before being 'bulled' to a high shine
