On Saturday I walked a half marathon. This is a first for me. Usually, I run them. By walking the FitOne Half Marathon I was able to break 2 (and maybe 3) Guinness World Records for 68, 69 (and maybe 70):
Longest duration balancing a baseball bat on one finger – mark to beat: 2 hours
Furthest distance walked balancing a baseball bat on one finger – current record: 9 miles
Both of these records required the bat to be balanced on a single finger the ENTIRE time. No switching fingers. No breaks. No drops. No touching any other part of the body, any other people’s bodies (this got tricky when we merged with the 4,400 people walking the 5K), or any other object.
I’m happy to say the middle finger of my right hand was pain-free for 15 minutes. The next 3 hours weren’t as fun (total of 3 hours 9 minutes 51 seconds). When I finally took the bat off my finger, I was unable to bend it even a half an inch for more than 10 minutes. I’m typing this 2 days later and the joint still aches.
The most difficult unexpected challenge was the tip of my finger going numb in the cold. And then it got harder when the right half woke up and not the left half 4 miles in. It felt like the bat was balanced on the edge of my finger even though it was right in the middle. Physiologically I was panicking wanting to bounce the bat over to get it off the edge even though it wasn’t off the edge. It was like spinning around a bunch and then trying to take a step when you stop and feel dizzy. You know you’re not moving but it sure feels like the world is and you want to take a step. I almost lot the balance twice wanting to move the bat.
And then there was the third record: fastest half marathon with a baseball bat balanced on one finger. For this record, I could run (and will next time) but the minimum mark was only 3 hours 15 minutes. By walking an average of 4.1 miles per hour I was about to come in just under 3 hours 10 minutes and break this record (assuming the half marathon course meets the Guinness requirements and I won’t know this until I request it from FitOne).
Thanks to Matt Freeman for walking the whole thing with me and to Patrick Harper and Lisa Marie Hannon for each walking about half.
