Fastest 100m hurdles in swim fins (female)
Here is a record that sounds like it would involve a whole world of hurt. Walking in swim fins is bad enough – combine that with hurdling (a ridiculous sport in its own right) and you have all the makings of a catastrophe; unless you are Maren Zönker, in which case you do it in 22.35 seconds (which is probably faster than I could do it in running shoes).
As some people have called the authenticity of this record into question, here is a video of Zönker doing her thing for Guinness on camera.
Most beer steins carried over 40 meters by a female
Anita Schwarz of Mesenich, Germany would be the perfect person to have at your party if you don’t like getting your own drinks. Back in November of 2008, she set the world record for most beer steins carried over 40 meters by a female, when she carried 19 of the things – a feat that no doubt required exceptional balance and physical strength.
World’s smallest all-terrain armored vehicle
At the start of the video, the PAV1 Badger looks like more of an oddity than anything. It is not until you see it busting through walls that you realize that it has destructive potential as well. The Badger is the work of Howe and Howe Technologies and is designed to be strong enough to break down doors but small enough to fit into a standard elevator.
Most rattlesnakes held in mouth
Jackie “The Texas Snake Man” Bibby scored this record in 2006 by holding 10 live rattlesnakes in his mouth. He has a few other rattlesnake-related records under his belt as well: he sat in a bathtub with 81 and shared a sleeping bag with 109… oh and he stuffed 10 rattlesnakes into a sack in a mere 17.11 seconds.
Greatest distance traveled in 322-pound shoes
Fifty-six-year-old New Yorker Ashrita Furman is passionate about record setting. He currently holds more than 120 Guinness records including one for walking 33 feet in 322-pound shoes.
Here’s what he had to say about that:
I strained my neck and hip muscles slightly, but it was a thrill to challenge the record,” said Furman, who flew to London to set the record. “I actually try to clear my mind of all thoughts as I’m doing a record, but I remember thinking while walking that this is difficult but, at the same time, so much fun!
As tough as that sounds, it sounds a lot easier than the first record for performing 27,000 jumping jacks.
Balancing car on head
Saying, “don’t try this at home” would probably be redundant. Sure, it has the potential to cause serious injuries (including death) but if you are strong enough and don’t mind spending your autumn years with chronic neck and back pain, go for it. That is what John Evans did when he balanced a 159.6kg Mini on his head for 33 seconds, thus ensuring himself a place in the history books.
Widest tongue
From an evolutionary standpoint, having the world’s widest tongue probably wouldn’t convey too many advantages – which probably explains why extremely wide tongues are such a rarity. The record for the world’s widest goes to Australian Jay Sloot, whose 7.9-centimeter-wide tongue has led to the predictable nickname of “Tongue Boy”.
Most cockroaches eaten in a minute
The bizarre record set by Ken Edwards of Glossup, Derbyshire, England has stood for almost 10 years. We can assume that no other person on the planet has the stomach or inclination to devour 36 cockroaches in a minute. I know, a cockroach shouldn’t be any more or less disgusting than a butterfly but something about the way that they move triggers a primal sense of dread in most people – except for Ken Edwards of course.
I’m wondering if he got bits of them stuck in his teeth.
Most ghost chillies eaten in two minutes
Twenty-five-year-old Anandita Dutta Tamuly of Gauhati, India is a chili eating machine. Her date with the Guinness book came when she ate a staggering 51 ghost chillies. At the time, with more than a million Scoville units, the ghost chili was the hottest pepper on the planet – at around the minute mark she ended up with chili seeds in her eye and kept going.
if you want to see how hot they can be, check out what happens to the guy below.
Most people dressed up as Smurfs
To achieve the coveted “Most people dressed as Smurfs” 1,253 souls descended upon the Muckno Mania Festival in Castleblayney, County Monaghan, Ireland, on July 18, 2008.
Most books typed backwards
On June 16, 2009, Italian Michele Santelia set a record that can be described as truly unique. He used a computer and four blank keyboards (some of which might have been harmed in the setting of this record) to type backwards through a total of 68 books. He uses his computer without looking at the screen.
In case you are wondering about word count, that amounted to a staggering 3,663,324 words, 20,680,060 characters , 24,154 pages, 266,741 paragraphs and 516,498 lines. His most recent addition to his stack of books, which now stands 4.19 meters high, is The Life of Abraham Lincoln.
Pretty amazing, right? Now consider the fact that the 67 books included multiple languages – the Dead Sea Scrolls in ancient Hebrew, and he threw in The Million in ancient Chinese for good measure.
Fastest barefoot 100 meters… on ice
I’m guessing that it is not advisable for most people to take to icy roads with nothing to protect their feet, and most importantly toes, from frostbite. Nico Surings is not most people as you can see from the picture above. The Dutchman set the world record for the barefoot 100m on ice when he covered the distance in 17.35 sec.
Most backhanded push-ups in one hour
Doing 1,940 push-ups in a row would be impressive enough in and of itself; doing them with your hands upside down is pure insanity – yet that is exactly what the UK’s Paddy Doyle did in Stamina’s Boxing Self Defence Gym in Erin Go Bragh Sports Centre, Birmingham, UK, on November 8, 2007.
