Nov 29, 2003
The conditions for breaking a world record are never perfect, but I wish they could sometimes be just a little less imperfect! On the other hand, having to face the added challenges may be a good thing – they compel you to intensify your determination and concentration. I know in my case, at least, the obstacles certainly make my prayers to God considerably more fervent!
A few months ago, I was invited to participate in the Impossibility-Challenger World Record Games in Munich, Germany, to be held in November. I thought about trying to improve my time for skipping a marathon, but eventually opted to attempt bettering the time for running a mile while balancing a full pint glass milk bottle on my head. The current record is 9 minutes and 24 seconds. Although this event sounds silly (the distance version of this record was first established by a clown), it actually requires tremendous one-pointed focus. At no time can the bottle fall off your head, and if the bottle starts sliding, you can’t use your hands to adjust it. Instead, you must gently jerk your neck to reposition the bottle and do this without breaking stride. Also, in my case, since my head is not flat on top, I have to keep my noggin tilted to maintain a level surface and try to run as fast as possible in this awkward position. It is not a pretty sight!
Aug 29, 2003
This is a grueling event – don’t try this at home! You are allowed 5 minutes’ rest after each hour of rolling. The unofficial rule is that you must roll continuously, but you are permitted brief stops to throw up! Unfortunately, I had to avail myself of that rule — many times!
After breaking the jumping jacks record in 1979, I noticed that the somersault record was listed directly underneath in the gymnastics section of the Guinness Book. “Wow”, I thought, “it would be cool to have 2 records right next to each other.” However, after attempting several rolls my enthusiasm quickly diminished. Some nut had rolled 8.3 miles! But over the next several weeks it kept bothering me that I had given up because I sincerely believed that if another person has done something extraordinary, so can you.
So I went out at 2 a.m. to a nearby track to practice. I chose that time because I didn’t want people in my neighborhood to think I was crazy; but the plan backfired. Some poor, innocent guy walking his dog came upon me and dashed off in shock despite my protests that I was normal! Anyway, I managed to complete a quarter of a mile and staggered home dizzy, nauseous, bruised, covered in dirt and glass, but totally thrilled with my self-transcendence.
Aug 29, 2003
This is an intense event because the pogo stick is simply not an efficient mode of transport, although it’s lots of fun.
I first set this record in Antarctica. I was in South America and the Argentinian Air Force graciously allowed me and a couple of friends to hitch a ride there on a military transport plane. We flew into the “white continent” and had 90 minutes to locate and measure a course, break the record (with observers from the base as witnesses) and get back on the plane before it took off. It was C-O-L-D! The spring on the pogo stick froze near the 3/4 mile point but I still managed to crack 18 minutes for the mile. I later overcame the 13 -minute barrier at Iffley Field in Oxford, England where one of my heroes, Roger Bannister, first broke the 4-minute mile. My greatest obstacle there was the summer heat!
Aug 29, 2003
You have to walk as far as possible while balancing a full, old-fashioned pint glass milk bottle on your head. You can stop to rest or eat but the bottle can never leave your head. You are allowed to adjust the bottle twice an hour.
This is one of my favorite records because you look so silly on the outside (the record was appropriately enough first set by a clown!), while on the inside you are very seriously concentrating on the top of your head. If you get distracted even for a split second the bottle can slip off and the attempt is finished. Over the years, as the record has been broken and rebroken, the distance has increased dramatically, so now it is a test of extreme physical endurance as well as mental one-pointedness.
Aug 29, 2003
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In Bali
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The idea for landrowing came to me during a boring training session on an indoor rowing machine. “Why not put wheels on this thing and tool around the neighborhood?” I wondered. So I called up my friend, who is a welder, and we went to work on transforming my brand new Concept II Ergometer into a road-worthy vehicle. Several weeks later, with much anticipation, I took my first lap around a nearby track and – the contraption disintegrated!
I was a little disappointed, but I figured that at least I sacrificed my rowing machine in the name of science. However, a short time later, in the spring of 1987 while visiting Germany, I spotted an aerodynamic version of my failed experiment in the window of a sports store. I got wildly excited, but finally calmed down enough to buy the machine from the startled shopkeeper. A couple of months later, I set the first “landrowing” record by traveling 68 miles from New York to Philadelphia along the New Jersey Turnpike with a police escort the entire way. The police really enjoyed the novelty of the event, and at one point started singing “row, row, row your boat” over their loudspeaker!
