March 27, 2007 British runner Robert Garside, 40, has officially been accepted by the Guinness Book of World Records as the first person to run around the world.

Tuesday, Garside, the self-proclaimed “Runningman,” accepted a certificate verifying the record at London’s Eros statue in Picadilly Circus, according to British ITV News. Marco Frigatti, Head of Records for Guinness World Records, presented Garside with the honor.

In a statement on the Guinness Web site, Frigatti said, “We are very cautious to accept records like this because they are difficult to certify, however Robert has provided us with full evidence which enabled us to authenticate his amazing achievement.”

Garside began the run in October 1997 at Indian Gate, New Delhi, India, and after 2,062 days, 29 countries, and six continents, finished on June 13, 2003, according to the Guinness press release. It took Guinness roughly five years to collate and compile the record evidence and the committee finished on Monday.

For anyone interested in giving Garside a run for his title, the official rules for the record are as follows: The journey has to start and finish at the same place, the total distance traveled must exceed the length of the Tropic of Cancer, specifically 36,787.559 kilometers, and the equator must be crossed at least once. All lines of longitude must be crossed and all continents along the equator have to be covered within the route.

The record is vindication for Garside, who was accused of cheating by the international media. According to the BBC, in 2001 he reportedly admitted to taking a plane more than 800 miles from Mexico City to the U.S. border. The 100-KM Association, a British Ultra Running Club Web site, reported that Garside told the British media that when he had claimed to be running through the Amazon jungle, he was actually sunbathing in Rio de Janeiro with infamous train robber, Ronnie Biggs.

Furthermore, the source reported that Garside allegedly skipped 2,400 miles from his trip when he missed Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, and Afghanistan to fly to back to the UK to see his girlfriend.

According to Reuters, Garside was jailed in China, shot at in Russia, and chased by armed men in Mexico and Panama during the trip. Endurance runners the world over have expressed skepticism that Garside actually ran through strenuous terrain and dangerous territory without a support team.

In the official Guinness press release, Frigatti stated that the organization, “initially evaluated 15 boxes of credit card statements, receipts in Robert’s name, and other useful evidence, which supported Robert’s presence in all of the 29 countries within the time specified. We also reviewed over 300 time-coded tapes featuring Robert running at different locations during his journey.”

The Guinness committee Web site states that Garside plans to write a book and produce a movie about the run. His next plan is to swim around the globe.

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