This is the furthest I’ve ever gone for a Guinness World Record: 35 miles.

The record was for the farthest distance traveled on an electric unicycle while juggling. I’ve had it on my list for years but I didn’t have an electric unicycle. My friend Matt McGuinness picked up one at a pawn shop a while ago. This is typical of my friend. Also typical is he also bough a 2-wheeled Segway that you steer with the knees (no handlebars) and that’s what he uses to get around so he offered me his electric unicycle.

On the first day I tried it I could barely get on and go around the car. By the second day I could ride it without holding on to something else. Within a week I was able to ride it 10 miles while juggling and the battery died. Even though the record was recently broken at about 2 miles (it was 1 when I applied), I decided I wanted to try for more. Riding an electric unicycle is also super fun so I was excited to practice.

I contacted eWheels.com who were super helpful and offered me a Kingsong unicycle to ride. It had an advertised range of 35 miles and a top speed of 17 MPH. I was happy to go faster than the 10 MPH the other one I had since it’s a distance-based record, not time. They even put on the big foot steps since they knew I was planning to stand on it for a long time. And it turns out the hardest part of this record for me was keeping my feet from falling asleep. I had to practice lifting up my heels and toes alternating as well as sliding my feet around to keep them awake. Note that you must maintain the exact same amount of weight on each foot the entire time or the unicycle falls over.

After several long practice rides I was ready to make the official attempt. I rode around the track with a camera mounted to my helmet and two fixed cameras on tripods. I was a little nervous for the first few laps which made my juggling a bit wobbly but after a couple miles I settled in. My feet ached and I had a couple nasty itches on my arms that wouldn’t go away, but it all went to plan. The record fell in less than 10 minuts and then I kept going for another two and a half hours.

The pace was pretty consistant for the first 25 miles before the battery started to go. At 30 miles it went even faster and the pace was dropping off precipitously. I wasn’t going to be able to finish another mile so I jumped off after the 141st lap and 35 miles.

By the numbers:

141 laps

2 hours 29 minutes 30 seconds

~32,000 juggling catches

Average pace: 4 minute miles

Average speed: 15 MPH

30 low battery warnings

1 dead battery

Over 6,000 miles and hundreds of training runs later, I can now claim to be the world’s fastest man***

***while juggling blindfolded.

Usain Bolt, nor any other person on the face of the planet can claim to run the 100m dash faster than me while juggling blindfolded. I completed the distance in 16.29 seconds beating the Guinness minimum mark of 20 seconds. (I didn’t create this record, but no one has ever been able to break it).

I broke this record to celebrate Guinness World Record’s Day 2021 (celebrated Nov. 17). I had 3 records featured in the official Guinness Video starting at 15:50 including last week’s record for most consecutive axe juggling catches and this one.

But I’ve been trying to break this record since I first applied for it in August of 2017. I’ve made other official attempts at it with the team but I was never able to complete the 100 meters with my eyes blindfolded while staying in my lane. Yes, Guinness World Records requires the participant to stay in the lane.

I have the record for the fastest mile run while juggling blindfolded (which I also can’t really believe I broke) but I didn’t have to stay in my lane for that one. While breaking it, I completed a 1/3 mile stretch without dropping a ball (drops were allowed and I made 10, but you had to go back to where you dropped it, don the blindfold, and start again). Running 100 meters juggling blindfolded is well within my skill range.

For the 100 meter dash, the main challenge for me was staying in my lane. The other impossible part of it is accelerating quickly since I have to throw the balls forward and catch up to them. Running at a constant speed isn’t nearly as hard since I just juggle normal and the balls and body are moving at the same speed relative to each other. I did lots of sprint starts juggling with my eyes closed to prepare for this one.

It took 22 fails but I finally completed the 100 meters juggling while staying in my lane. But as we were collecting evidence I discovered that all 6 videographers had shut off their cameras after the run was complete. Guinness requires all evidence to be gathered on one continuous shot. I may have been able to make a case since the blindfold was inspected before the run but the measuring on the lane width was on a separate shot. (I was allowed to increase the width to 48 inches per IAAF rules since the high school track I was using only had 40-inch lanes, and I needed the extra 8 inches!

What’re a few more tries after over 6,000 miles of training? After a few more attempts, my goal of over 5 years was complete with a run of 16.29 seconds!

What kid didn’t watch the Olympics growing up dreaming of being the fastest man in the world? I found a way, even if I did have to make it the most niche category there is?

Happy Guinness World Records Day 2017! November 17th is the special day and I have two exciting records to celebrate. This week I reclaim the record for most consecutive axe juggling catches and next week I break a record no one has ever been able to break before and is quite possibly the hardest record I have ever broken. Be sure to check back next Sunday!

Last time I broke this record I got 839 consecutive catches at the X-games in Boise over 3 years ago. The record stood at 937 catches but this time but I didn’t just want to break it this time, I wanted to crush it.

After months of practice, including going on joggling runs with tennis balls filled with pennies, juggling bowling balls, and lots of curls with dumbbells, I was finally ready to take back the record. It took several official attempts over several days because once I dropped an axe after a long run, I was pretty much done for the day since it took so much out of me.

I juggled for 21 minutes 11 seconds and achieved 2,919 consecutive catches before I finally dropped an axe. I had several nicks on my hands that were bleeding by the end since I was juggling without much margin for error to conserve strength, but the most painful part of this attempt was hitting my knee caps with the axes. I chose to wear pants so fortunately, they didn’t cut me but the bruises hurt. I was pretty thrilled to be able to keep nearly 10 pounds in the air for over 21 minutes since these axes are almost 3 times the weight of the typical hatchet but just over the Guinness World Records minimum weight.

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One question I’m often asked after breaking over 200 Guinness World Records is how I make them all up. I usually don’t. The vast majority were existing records broken by other people that I found through YouTube videos, the Guinness World records book, and the Guinness World Records website.

This record is the exception. Other than after I set the inaugural mark 3 years ago, however, it has been broken twice and I had to take it back.

The record is for the most consecutive juggling catches while balancing on a roller board. The minimum mark for Guinness to recognize it when I broke it 3 years ago was 15 catches. I got 52 and celebrated. Then it was broken by a professional juggler at a Guinness event with 74 catches. This last year Brenden Kelbie out of Australia got 159 consecutive catches tripling my initial mark.

There are few things I claim to be the best at, but 3 ball blind juggling is one of them. I have the records for longest duration blind juggling, fastest blind juggling (most catches in one minute), and the fastest mile run while juggling blind. Taking back the record for the roller board was surely within reach.

The hard part for me isn’t the blind juggling or balancing on a roller board, it’s the blind balance. I don’t think it matters if I’m juggling or not; balancing on the roller board while blind is just as hard.

After months of practice training my balance not to be reliant on vision just as my juggling doesn’t rely on vision, I was able to remain balanced for 3 minutes 19 seconds. To make the most out of those 3+ minutes I decided to speed juggle making over 6.6 catches per second. This was a most catches record and not a time duration record. 1,316 catches later, I nearly broke this record by an order of magnitude. Good luck to the challengers!

I consider myself a juggler. I’m certainly not the best juggler but there are few things I’m better at than juggling. After countless hours of practice, I have also acquired a number of skills that fit into the category of “stupid human tricks” that are useful for little other than entertaining myself and others. One of those skills is catching things in my mouth. For this record, I combine the two skills of juggling and catching things in my mouth.

The Guinness World Records title is for the most grapes caught in the mouth in one minute while juggling. The record when we attempted this stood officially at 27. Before this was approved another team got 32. My neighbor, Jonathan “Hollywood” Hannon was again my thrower and while juggling 3 balls for the full minute with no drops or stops I was able to catch 35 grapes in my mouth.

I was expecting this record to be easier than it was. It took a while not to move my hands out of position while my head darted back and forth catching grapes. Once I was able to separate the movement of my head and hands, it made breaking this record possible. I think we’ll probably have to defend this record soon but we’re sure we can extend it even further.