I don’t particularly like to eat cold beans. But when a Guinness World Record (or 3!) are on the line, you might find me eating them for breakfast with a toothpick (as my mother-in-law found out this morning). Today I broke my 3rd, 4th, and 5th Guinness World Records Titles during Computer Science Education Week (Dec 3-8). #HourOfCode
The records were in the series of most small pieces of food eaten in a certain amount of time with a toothpick (I have attempted several). Baked Beans has 1, 3, and 5-minute records and I got ambitions and went for all 3 in a single 5-minute run. I beat the first record by 13%, then I got slower. The second record I beat by 7% and the third I just eeked out and beat by only 1%. I actually thought I didn’t break the last record because I thought it was 277 beans instead of 271 (I got 275).
Thanks to all the folks who helped out. If you’d like to find out more about coding, the hour of code, or it’s importance to our world check out code.org.
Thanks to the team!A large (newly chipped) plate full of an entire can of baked beansCelebrating275 beans eaten in 5 minutes (beating 271 by 1%)
Tonight I set a personal record as well as a Guinness World Record. I have been practicing skewering small pieces of food with a toothpick for well over a year and have several Guinness World Record Titles to my name. I have eaten different types of food with a toothpick but tonight’s record stands out. Most of the time when I break a Guinness World Record I have a good showing, but not usually my best for something I practice hundreds of times. I individually ate 108 peas in 1 minute each stabbed with a toothpick. When I broke the 30-second version of the record I got 49 which was also a personal record. When I did corn kernels, I got 80. The record to beat was 86 which I knew was doable but only in the last round of practicing did I realize I had a shot to get up to 100. When I got 108 in a live record attempt I was thrilled. Not only had I exceeded my expectations but proved to myself I could go faster than I thought was possible at the outset. It goes to show that you get better at what you practice and you can get better at anything!
Thanks to all the folks for helping out and Dave and Busters for providing a great atmosphere!
Thanks to the Oak Brook Library outside of Chicago for having me back to attempt another Guinness World Records Title! Most sweet corn kernels eaten in 3 minutes with a toothpick. The previous record was 236 pieces (skewered and eaten one at a time).
This one was tough. I had plenty of practice, I was plenty fast, I was ready. Except I got just a little nervous in the 2nd and 3rd minutes and kept losing pace. It took three tries. The first try I was just ahead of pace in the first minute, fell apart in the second, and couldn’t make up for it in the third.
On the second try I at 90 kernels in one minute which was way ahead of pace only to get super nervous in the second and have my hand shake to failure in the third. Finally, on the third try I was able to get ahead in the first minute, hold it together in the second minute, and even though I had a rough third with my hand shaking nearly uncontrollably, I was able to skewer enough to total 241 kernels in 3 minutes.
Thanks for having me out again! I hope to come back again when my travels take me this way.
Today’s record attempts weren’t *supposed* to be hard. They ended pushing me to my limit and I barely squeaked by breaking one of my two target records.
I think this day was made for me: National STEM Day AND Guinness World Record Day! I planned to break two records today: furthest distance walked balancing a baseball bat on his chin (3 km) and longest duration balancing a baseball bat on his chin (30 minutes). It was 25 degrees Fahrenheit and dark at the Boise High School track when I started. I hadn’t practiced in these conditions and it caused me an unexpected problem. I wasn’t too cold but my breath was clearly visible and every time I exhaled, instead of evaporating into the air, my breath condensed on the bottom of the bad. After a few minutes, the polished bottom of the bat got quite slick. On the first attempt, I was just over a half a mile and 10 minutes in and the bat simply slipped off the front of my chin.
I dried off, put the bat further up my chin, and tried again leaning back a little further. I also tried to breathe away from the bat which is pretty hard. leaning my head back further also made walking and balancing much harder and I suffered dizzy spells. After 3 laps and nearly 15 minutes, the PE class came out to use the track. I didn’t they were going to be outside in 25-degree weather! I had to abandon my distance attempt to make room for the class and stood off the end of the track. I was dehydrated, tired, and very dizzy from bending so far back. I also felt my chin getting slick. I had to bend my back and neck even further back and keep all balance corrections as subtle as possible so the bat wouldn’t slide off. At 25 minutes I got quite nervous and started shaking. The pain and effort made me so hot and I took off my coat and gloves. When I got to 28 minutes I knew I could do it, at 29 I became calm again. At 30 minutes I put my arms up and then relaxed into a more natural balancing position to see how much further I could go. The bat immediately slipped off my chin! I was so close to not breaking this one.
I then did a short interview with KIVI News Channel 6 and went to work for the day.
I was pretty excited I broke this record with as unexpectedly difficult as it ended up being.
7 seconds over the Guinness World Records Title mark!
I ran as fast as a speeding ping pong ball today. That’s because I was propelling the ball by holding it on a paddle while running the fastest 50 meters known to man (with the above conditions met).
Today’s record attempt was going to be for the longest distance traveled on inline skates while juggling but I got a cancellation notice 7 minutes before I was supposed to set up. Instead, I switched to “Fastest 50 m while balancing a ping pong ball on a bat”. The previous record was 8.604 seconds. When I first went to practice this record I thought it would be a piece of cake. After a day of practice I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to finish 50 meters without dropping the ball, let-alone at record speed.
Ping pong balls are light. In fact, they’re not much heavier than air. When I start running the air speed generated by my movement is enough to immediately roll a ping pong ball off the bat. I have to hold the paddle at a relatively steep angle to keep it on the bat and fast adjustments are needed to keep it in control. I also can’t take my eye off the ball. I have to keep my lane in peripheral vision.
I went over to Boise High School, gave a short talk to a class and I lined up 50 meters from the finish line. I took off in lane 6 (outside lane next to the fence that I’d never practiced in) and there was a blue barrel that came out of nowhere that threw me a little off after 20 meters. I got a little wobbly but held it together until at last, I dropped the ball with 10 meters left to go.
I tried it again and this time I didn’t let anything phase me. 7.87 seconds later I hold another Guinness World Record.
As the Boston Red Sox swung their bats, I swung mine. They won the world series and I won another Guinness World Records Title for most 360 spins of a bat in one minute. What I don’t understand is how this record mark was so low. It’s not as easy to spin a bat 360 degrees horizontally as it looks (try it if you don’t believe me) but it’s not as hard as the previous record would lead me to believe. It was 36omplete spins, I got 94 on a crisp morning in Boise.
I bruised my hands quite a few times in practice and one of the difficulties is that no drops were allowed, so if I dropped the bat, which I often did in practice, the attempt would be disqualified.
*1/22/2019 update. Due to a couple of blurry pictures showing the distance and height of the cans, the evidence for this record was rejected. I spent half an hour putting all the cardboard under the table to get it exactly 85cm high and am disappointed my macro photo of the tape measure was blurry (the zoomed in one showed it as 85cm!)
When the fifth can fell, so did my 77th Guinness World Record. “Fastest time to topple five targets using a pump action foam dart gun”. The previous record was 13.11 seconds. When the 5th dart hit the 5th can only 5.18 seconds had elapsed since “Go”. The pump action dart gun I used actually had 6 darts loaded and I’m not sure I’d ever knocked over all 5 cans without using the 6th dart.
Only direct hits were allowed (no ricochets). The first hit was direct but glanced off the side of the can. I’m lucky the can still toppled over. I estimated I’ve taken about 10,000 Nerf Gun shots in the last year. Not only could I use the practice… the practice was a lot of fun. Surprisingly enough, Nerf gun shooting records are one the most enjoyable to practice.
Taking out the targets
Thanks to Cradlepoint for putting up with my record-breaking antics and for all the help timing, witnessing, and videoing!
I used diet A&W rootbeer cans if you were curious.
It took a couple tries but today I broke the Guinness World Record for the Furthest distance to blow a pea (in one breath). I actually broke the record on the first try but only by 2 inches. On the second try, we lost track of the pea. It probably would have been my best effort but we couldn’t find it… it went that far that fast. We had 30 eyes and 4 cameras on it and we still lost it. After a good 30 seconds of looking, we finally located it and it was well past the record mark but we didn’t have enough evidence to prove it. On the third try I flubbed it entirely but on the fourth, I nailed it. The pea flew.
The peas had to be commercially available, fresh, and non-frozen. I brought an entire bag and the students opened them up to help me find the perfect pea. The record was previously held by Coby Cotton of Dude Perfect – a man I’d like to meet someday.
Thanks to Boise High School for having me out again.
Three years ago at the Cradlepoint Block Party, I set my first Guinness World Record. The next year I set my 10th. Last year I broke my 23rd. Today I broke my 74th and 75th Guinness World Records. Half of me is in disbelief that it’s that many, and half of me remembers all the hours it’s taken to get here.
Today, the first record I broke was for the most juggling catches while standing on a balance board while blindfolded. The minimum mark for this new record was 15 catches. On my 3rd try, I got 52 catches. Next up was the longest duration juggling while standing on a balance board. The record held by professional and impressive Niels Duinker was 17 minutes 21 seconds, I went 31 minutes 20 seconds. I have been putting off breaking this record for a couple of years since I met Niels on a Disney cruise several years back and he tipped me off that there were professional quality juggling balls that I wasn’t allergic to (I’m literally allergic to 70+ juggling balls that I own!).
Keeping it balanced.
The hardest part of balancing and juggling blind is not what I expected. I have several blind juggling records and am likely one of the most experienced blind jugglers in the world so that was relatively straight-forward. I’m also pretty good on a balance board and can juggle five balls while balancing on it for several minutes. What I can’t do for very long is simply balance on the board with my eyes closed. If I practiced that more on that particular skill I suspect I could juggling blind for a couple minutes vs 13 seconds.
Celebrating #74
Thanks to Cradlepoint for being so supportive of my efforts to promote STEM and to all the individuals who helped out. Thanks also to witnesses, timers, photographer, and family who help make it all possible.
Thanks for the Boise High Cross Country team for having me out Friday to give a short talk on the power of a growth mindset and then for cheering me on as I broke not just one, but two 100 meter Guinness World Records.
First up was fastest 100 meters run while balancing a baseball bat on one finger. I took off faster than normal and then halfway through I tipped the bat too far forward and had to speed up to catch up with it. I coasted to the finish just like Usain Bolt so as not to push it too hard and set not only my PR for 100-meter bat balance, but my 100 meter PR for any Guinness World Record attempt of mine at 14.28 seconds (beating the minimum mark of 20 seconds).
Next up was a more physically demanding (and more physically damaging) attempt: fastest 100 meters crawling. I was allowed to wear kneepads and gloves but make no mistake, my knees are still ripped up on both sides (and 2 places on the right). I was a bit tender from practicing on Tuesday still and the scabs came off during warmup. I then lined up at the start and after a ready, set, go! took off. I was doing great until my left kneepad started sliding down. I reached over to adjust it with my right hand but briefly had both my left and right hands off the track for a moment and the attempt was immediately disqualified. At least one hand and one knee have to be on the track at all times. Back to the start.
I took a one-minute breather and started again. 58. 22 seconds later I was collapsed on the track with my 73rd Guinness World Record!
It really helped to have all the students cheering me on and several were a great help filming and timing. Thank you! Crawling 100 meters is absolutely exhausting! I can understand now why toddlers learn to walk.
Promoting STEM education through my story and juggling
