Man sets record for running while on fire

ALTON, England, July 6 (UPI) -- A Scottish man has broken the world's record for running while on fire, witnesses said.

Keith Malcolm, a nurse from Aberdeen, Scotland, set himself ablaze and ran 259 feet, beating the old record of 227 feet, Sunday at the Alton & North East Hampshire Agricultural Show, in Alton, England, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The stunt was aimed at raising money for cancer research. Malcolm had a team from the Hampshire Fire and Rescue department standing by as he sprinted in a ball of fire while wearing eight layers of protective clothing, including four layers of fireproof undergarments, the Telegraph said.

The newspaper said Malcolm also coated himself in protective "stunt gel" so as not to be burned by the flames, which reached 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

"There wasn't much left of the jacket at the end," Malcolm told the Telegraph. "To be honest, the heat I felt was what you would expect if you were wearing all those clothes and a helmet in hot weather and trying to run."