The 2018 Guinness World Records book was released two days ago and I got my hand on a copy yesterday. Long story short, I made the book 3 times! Only a subset of all records are published every year so while I’ve broken a few, not all (and maybe not any) make the book.
All three are juggling records I set in 2016.
One of them is a current record (head rolls), one is a record I have already surpassed (fastest blindfolded juggling), and one is a record that has been surpassed by someone else (fastest juggling) and I’m deep into training to take back.
It took 30 minutes 52 seconds to walk 3,300 meters or 2.05 miles. The previous record of 1668 meters while balancing a pool cue on the chin was nearly doubled. The time didn’t matter other than my neck was ready for a break. I walked the first 1700 meters at a more conservative pace to avoid a mistake and then booked it for the second mile. A few times the cue was tipping a little too far and I had to jog to keep up. I made a total of 8 laps plus 100 meters.
One of the hardest parts about this attempt is staying on the track while staring up in the sky – especially when the sky has a bright sun in it. An early morning attempt kept the sun close to the horizon and when I was rounding the corner that pointed me directly at the sun I was in Boise High School’s shadow.
On Tuesday, August 15th at 7:30 AM, I’m am going to attempt to walk more than 1668 meters around the Boise High School track. This would be a normal morning activity for many, but I’m going to attempt to do this while balancing a pool cue on my chin. If successful, it will be by 21st successful Guinness World Record-breaking attempt.
Guinness World Record number 20 fell today after a long wait.
I bought the hula hoop the day before Jeremy was born. I’ve had it in our living room now for more than 15 months. It’s taken a couple dozen trips to various swimming pools. The previous record for longest duration balancing a hula hoop on the head was 49 seconds. I beat the record in less than a minute (funny how that works). I then persisted for 15 more minutes. When my neck didn’t want to take it any more, I started practicing my seal moves and swam up out of the water a couple times and swam forward and back. At 16 minutes and 13.19 seconds, the hula hoop fell into the water and we celebrated.
We got some great media coverage with local channels CBS 2, Fox 9 and KIVI 6 airing coverage. They all caught that I’m promoting STEM education which is encouraging.
Longest time to balance a hula hoop on the head while swimming
If I ever need a 2nd job as a seal substitute, I’ll be sure to list this as one of my top skills.
The current record is 49 seconds. I’ll be attempting to break it on Saturday, August 5th at the Boise State University Rec Center pool at 10 AM.
Rules: The hula hoop has to be balanced vertically on the forehead (not chin). I can either move or remain in the same spot. The water must be deep enough that I cannot touch. I’m not allowed to use any floatation devices or touch any other object.
Thanks so much to Kelsey and the Boise State Rec center for helping make this happen!
Thanks to the Captial High School Cross Country team for the support. The previous record of 6 Minutes 55 seconds fell by over a minute. For 5 minutes 53.92 seconds, I kept a pool cue balanced on my finger without it touching anything else (including other fingers or any other part of my body) while covering 1609.34 meters in under 6 minutes.
My asthma acted up after and I’ve been hacking up a lung, but feel pretty good. I could have run faster, but the lactic acid buildup and oxygen deprivation lead to wobbly arms, wobbly arms lead to pool cues bouncing off fingers, and that leads to Guinness World Record attempts being disqualified. So balancing speed vs body control was one of the biggest challenges today.
After a 2 week delay due to a nasty cold, Guinness World Record attempt #19 is on. I will attempt to run the fastest mile ever run while balancing a pool cue on my finger. If you want to come out to watch or cheer me on, it will be at 8 AM at the Capital High School track starting with a talk to the cross country team about the power of having a growth mindset, setting goals, and having the grit to power through pain and adversity.
The current record is 6 minutes 55 seconds. The pool cue has to rest on 1 finger and cannot touch any other part of my body or fall off or the record attempt fails. The hardest part is the end when the body gets wobbly from oxygen deprivation and my arm gets super shaky. In practice I even once had the cue fall off with 10 meters to go and break into several pieces!
Have you ever seen anyone burst 95 balloons in 1 minute by sitting? Neither had the rest of the world… until today.
I gave a talk to students and families at the Lake Hazel Library today about the power of a growth mindset and working hard to pursue your goals.
Then I attempted to break 2 Guinness World Records at the same time for “Most Balloons Burst by Sitting in One Minute” and “Most Balloons Burst by Sitting in 30 Seconds”.
The one minute record was a little bit weaker but was still 77 balloons burst in 1 minute. The 30-second record was 46 balloons.
It took quite a bit of preparation at home finding the right balloons (big enough, but not too big; easy to pop, but not too easy), the right chair, the right sitting cadence, enough squats that I could sit and stand nearly 100 times in a minute, the right shorts (actually combination of shorts since I’m wearing multiple layers) to sit on a bunch of balloons and land on a hard chair without too much pain. And then there was the logistics on how to get only 2 balloons placers (Guinness Rules) fed enough balloons efficiently enough to break this record. In the end, it was a success.
The new Guinness World Records for balloon burst by sitting are:
Happy World Juggling Day on June 17, 2016. I went out to the park and broke the unofficial juggling record for fewest juggling catches in 1 minute with clubs. It was a way too windy day to be trying this (clubs are particularly sensitive to the wind since they are much much lighter than bowling pins). A couple hours and dozens of nasty bruises on my hands, chest, head, and feet later, I have a new world record.
The previous mark was 33 catches in 1 minute. I got 28… and just barely kept that last club off the ground before the minute expired (if a club touches the ground within the minute, the entire attempt is not valid. The 1-minute clock starts when the first club leaves the hand).
Here’s one more example of growth mindset, grit, and hard work leading to another success (note, I probably made about 75 attempts since it was windy and I don’t practice this much…)
The MIT 10 year reunion this weekend was phenomenal. I got to catch up with so many talented, inspired, hard-working people who are making the world a better place. The best thing about MIT is the other people.
During the weekend, I attempted 2 Guinness World Records (both successfully), 1 other world record and ended up with 4 total world records broken this weekend.
It started off with the 4 ball speed juggling record on MIT commencement day with 498 catches in one minute surpassing the previous record of 466 (not Guinness recognized). Later that day at the Boston Museum of Science the Guinness World Record for “Most juggling catches in 3 minutes (3 balls)” was broken with a run of 1288 passing the previous mark of 1200. Image Gallery Here. While setting that one, the previous record of most catches in one minute of 428 was eclipsed in the first minute with 470 catches.
Then at the annual “MIT TIM Talks” 8 former students consisting of 7 distinguished alumni and a guy who juggles gave talks about what they’ve been up to in the last 10 years. At the end we attempted to break the Guinness World Records for “Most Selfies in 3 Minutes” The previous record was 134. The MIT Class of 2007 got 166!
