| This month the 51 year old strongman set his | | | | pampered the ears - the professional cellist from |
| 103rd Guinness record - he holds 30 current | | | | Vienna played the cello for 24 hours. |
| official records - by carrying a person of exactly | | | | Albert Walter, Swiss record holder in the bench |
| his own weight in a Fireman's Carry position for | | | | press for 2004, set two new world records. He |
| one mile in fifteen minutes. | | | | tore up a phone book with 960 pages in 2.8 |
| Previously he has run 50 miles in under 9 hours | | | | seconds and broke an 8.5mm thick carpenter's nail |
| while juggling three balls; balanced a milk bottle on | | | | with his bare hands. Rainer Schroder from |
| his head continuously for 81 miles; balanced | | | | Germany towed a truck of three tons with his |
| seventy five 20oz pint glasses on his chin; | | | | teeth for the Guinness world record distance of |
| pogosticked up the 1900 steps of Toronto's CN | | | | 35.8 metres in one minute flat. Milan Roskopf |
| Tower; somersaulted the entire 12 1/4 mile length | | | | from Slovakia set a world record by juggling |
| of Paul Revere's ride in Massachusetts; and | | | | three 20lb [9kg] shot puts for 25.6 seconds. |
| stilt-walked 8 kms in just under 40 minutes - to | | | | Ashrita Furman, the king of Guinnessport and |
| name a few. On the Oprah Winfrey show Ashrita | | | | often the chief draw card, at a recent |
| had to be escorted off the show by paramedics | | | | Impossibility Challenger set not one but three new |
| after eating the world's hottest chilli peppers! | | | | records. In the space of a few hours he |
| Other records set by Ashrita over the past three | | | | completed one mile of hula-hoop spinning, one mile |
| decades include the fastest mile pushing an | | | | of lunges [in which the knee had to touch the |
| orange with his nose, the fastest mile on a pogo | | | | ground at every step], and standing on a |
| stick and the most milk crates ever balanced on | | | | gymnastic ball, balancing three hours and 30 |
| anyone's chin. | | | | minutes and bettering his own previous record by |
| Ashrita timed his latest attempt to coincide with | | | | over an hour. |
| Guinness World Records Day. Guinness Records, | | | | Guinnesport followers have come to expect the |
| the keeper of all records wacky and wonderful | | | | impossible from Furman. He has broken so many |
| has been around for 50 years, and has set aside | | | | records, in so many disciplines, that in 1987 |
| November 9th as a day to celebrate record | | | | Guinness editor Norris McWhirter presented him |
| setting achievements. | | | | with the title 'Mr. Versatility' and allowed him a |
| On hand to verify Ashrita's record was Stuart | | | | bonus record: the most world records in unrelated |
| Claxton, head of Guinness's U.S. research team. | | | | categories. |
| "Guinness World Records has a healthy sense of | | | | Anke Riedel, director of the new |
| humour, so we're always interested in it being fun | | | | Impossibility-Challenger, remembers an earlier |
| as well. But really we're looking for things that | | | | event back in 1990 when Ashrita broke a record |
| other people can actually break because as we | | | | for playing the most hopscotch games in 24 |
| always say, 'Records are meant to be broken' - | | | | hours. At that same event, karate masters sliced |
| and that's what we're celebrating today," he said. | | | | blocks of ice, and one daredevil rode a bicycle |
| Other record attempts also took place around the | | | | backwards while playing the violin. The |
| world to commemorate Guinness Record Day. | | | | Impossibility-Challenger is nothing if not diverse. |
| This month in New York Chad Fell blew a 20 inch | | | | Over the past 25 years, Furman has broken over |
| bubblegum bubble, setting a record for the largest | | | | 103 records in everything from yodeling to land |
| one without the use of hands. Aaron Studham of | | | | rowing. 'Ask fans who's the greatest athlete of all |
| Leominster, Massachusetts sported the tallest | | | | times,' The Christian Science Monitor once wrote, |
| Mohawk haircut, coming in at a hair-raising 21 | | | | 'and you'll hear a familiar debate over the likes of |
| inches. Other Guinness Records being attempted | | | | Muhammad Ali, Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth. Ask |
| included the 'Longest Non-stop Commercial Flight', | | | | readers of The Guinness Book of World Records, |
| from Hong Kong to London's Heathrow, and | | | | however, and you're likely to hear consensus on |
| 'Largest Milkshake' attempt by a group in | | | | one name: Ashrita Furman.' |
| Brisbane, Australia. | | | | Ashrita visited New Zealand in 2003 when he set |
| The Sri Chinmoy Marathon Team of which Ashrita | | | | a world record by juggling three lead balls |
| is a member organises a further annual event in | | | | underwater at Kelly Tarltons Underwater World |
| Germany to also commemorate Guinness World | | | | for 48 minutes non-stop in a large fish tank. His |
| Record Day. Called 'Impossibility Challenger', the | | | | first attempt was interrupted after 16 minutes |
| one day occasion attracts participants from all | | | | when a tiny parrotfish repeatedly bit him on the |
| over the world bent on establishing world and | | | | nose! |
| personal records in a variety of non-Olympic | | | | Furman attributes all his achievements to a lifelong |
| disciplines. To the athletes and record contenders | | | | practice of meditation, which he believes helps in |
| these feats have become known as | | | | developing intense concentration in the mind, |
| 'Guinnessport'. The term was coined in the | | | | self-belief and will power. He is also quick to credit |
| seventies to describe the daredevil antics that | | | | all his records to his meditation teacher, |
| earned a place in The Guinness Book of World | | | | 74-year-old Sri Chinmoy. |
| Records, which also happens to be the world's | | | | "In my teens I started searching for a deeper |
| best-selling book. According to Impossibility | | | | meaning to life and studied Eastern philosophy and |
| Challenger organizers and lovers of Guinnessport, | | | | yoga. I later attended a meditation evening with |
| the goal is 'to overcome human limitations and to | | | | the Indian master Sri Chinmoy, a meeting which |
| challenge the seemingly impossible'. | | | | changed the course of my life. Sri Chinmoy |
| This year Shobha Tipnis from India became the | | | | radically altered the way I looked at things. His |
| first woman in the world to inflate a hot-water | | | | philosophy of self-transcendence, of overcoming |
| bottle with her lungs till it burst. Gill Zafar from the | | | | your limits and making daily progress spiritually, |
| neighboring country Pakistan lifted metal plates | | | | creatively and physically, using the power of |
| weighing 55kg with his right ear and held the | | | | meditation, really thrilled me. However, I was a bit |
| weight for 12.2 seconds in the air. Shamita | | | | unsure about the physical part in my case due to |
| Achenbach-Konig set a Guinness Record which | | | | my lifelong commitment to nerdiness. |