I already had the samurai sword and I knew how to use it. I just needed to learn how to jump on a pogo stick with no hands. I bought my first one in preparation for this record attempt over 2 years ago.

The first pogo stick I bought was so small I just kept it for my <50 lb kids :). The second was much better and I got good at jumping on it with no hands. The problem was I used a rope to tie myself to the pogo stick and after 2 years I finally asked for a rules check and Guinness clarified that the rope wasn’t allowed. I needed to start over and figure out how to ride on one with no hands and no tie. The bigger pogo stick was far too large and boxy for my legs to grip so I ended up purchasing two more. The first bottomed out too easily and the next was perfect. I could grip it with my knees, it didn’t bottom out with small jumps, and I was able to stay on it with no hands after only a few more weeks of practice.

I was under time pressure since the neighbor’s crab apple tree was going to lose all its apples for the winter and there was no way I wanted to waste that much money and/or food on store-bought apples.

Jonathan was leaving town for a while as well so it ended up we made the attempt in the last possible hour on his birthday under artificial lighting since the sun had set.

After a couple of failed attempts, I finally completed a minute without falling off the pogo stick. The previous record was 39 apples sliced in one minute. Jonathan threw 74 apples, I sliced 63 of them, and 56 counted. Seven of the sliced apples were disqualified since they were thrown too early (before the previous apple was either sliced or hit the ground).

Happy Birthday, Hollywood Hannon!