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.
Hoopla
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.
http://idahonews.com/news/local/boise-man-breaks-20th-guinness-world-record
Wet and Wild (about STEM)
Guinness World Record #20 has been scheduled
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!
Fastest Mile Ever Run
… with a pool cue balanced on a finger.
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.
This makes 19 broken Guinness World Records.
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.
On Cue One Mile
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!
Bursting with Excitement
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”.
KTVB News 7 Showed up and did a fun segment.
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:
1 minute: 95!
30 seconds: 49!
Thanks to the team!
Happy World Juggling Day (Breaking World Record to Celebrate)
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…)
MIT ’07 10-Year Reunion and 4 World Records
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.
Image Gallery for 3 and 4 ball speed juggling
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!
View the full selfie event album here
Fastest Juggling (Period). WHILE BLINDFOLDED!
I’m still not sure I believe this is possible, but the video evidence tells me it is. I set the Guinness World Record for most juggling catches in 1 minute while blindfolded (3 balls) at 428 catches. Over 7 per second is pretty insane – even more so when you consider the previous record was 364 catches in 1 minute – and absolutely insane most so when I realize the Guinness World Record for most juggling catches in 1 minute (3 balls), using the eyes, is also 428 catches in 1 minute.
I hope the students at the FIRST Robotics nationals competition were as excited about this as I was. What a phenomenal program to get students excited about STEM.
Thanks to everyone who helped!
2 World Record Attempts, 2 World Records Broken
But not the 2 I tried!
The Most Selfies in an hour was unsuccessful but you can see the pictures here and tag yourself on Facebook. We had over 900 people participate which wasn’t quite enough.
At the FIRST Robotics St. Louis Championships in 2017, I gave an hour-long talk inspiring students and educators with my STEM story. I then attempted to break the blindfolded speed juggling record: the Guinness World Record for “Most juggling catches in 1 minute blindfolded (3 balls)”. I was successful on my 2nd try but still had 4 seconds left on the clock. So I tried again, and again and again until I finished a full minute and by the time I was done, I had also tied the record for “Most juggling catches in 1 minute (3 balls)”. Period. WHILE BLINDFOLDED!
Continue reading 2 World Record Attempts, 2 World Records Broken
