Ashrita Furman

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Ashrita Furman has set 187 official Guinness records over the past 25 years and currently holds 82 records. He has set records in all 7 continents and in more than 30 different countries and he has the official record for:

“The most current Guinness world records held at the same time by an individual,” Marco Frigatti, Head of Records, Guinness Book of World Records

A complete list of Ashrita’s current records can be found on his website.

Contents


[edit] Life and Records

[edit] Early life

Ashrita was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1954, the same year the Guinness Book of Records was conceived and the year Roger Bannister broke the 4-minute mile. Ashrita was fascinated with the Guinness Book of World Records as a child but never thought he could ever break a record, since he was very nonathletic. He grew up in the Kew Gardens Hills neighborhood in Queens, and attended Jamaica High School.[1]

That all changed when, as a teenager, Ashrita became interested in Eastern spirituality and in 1970 became a devout follower of the Indian mystic Sri Chinmoy. Sri Chinmoy’s philosophy of self-transcendence inspired Ashrita to participate in a 24-hour bicycle race in New York City's Central Park in 1978. With only two weeks' training, Ashrita tied for third place overall, cycling 405 miles. As he later described the experience, “It was one of the most profound moments of my life. As I climbed off my bicycle, I realized that it wasn't my body that had cycled for 24 hours, but my inner Spirit. By using meditation I was able to connect with an inexhaustible energy which we all have but rarely use. At that moment I decided to attempt breaking Guinness records to inspire others to connect with their own indomitable inner strength.”[2]

Ashrita at the Great Wall of China in January 2005 breaking the Guinness record for the fastest mile on a kangaroo ball.
Ashrita at the Great Wall of China in January 2005 breaking the Guinness record for the fastest mile on a kangaroo ball.

[edit] First record

In 1979, Ashrita set his first official record by doing 27,000 jumping jacks. In 1986, Ashrita invented and set the record for underwater pogo stick jumping and introduced it on Good Morning America on April Fools Day. That same year Ashrita began setting records at historic landmarks by doing forward rolls along the entire 12 ¼ mile route of Paul Revere's Ride in Massachusetts and jumping 11 ½ miles up and down the foothills of Mount Fuji on a pogo stick.

[edit] Records around the world

Ashrita has managed a health food store in Jamaica, NY since 1982. He is also a tour conductor for his meditation group and is therefore able to travel extensively. Ashrita had set records in more than 30 countries and completed his goal of breaking a record in all 7 continents when he set the mile hula hoop record at Uluru (formerly known as Ayers Rock) in the Australian desert in 2003. Ashrita has also set records at such famous landmarks as the Egyptian pyramids (distance pool cue balancing), Stonehenge (standing on a Swiss ball), the Eiffel Tower (most sit ups in an hour), the Great Wall of China (hopping on a kangaroo ball) and Angkor Wat (jumping rope on a pogo stick). While in China, Ashrita broke the record for running 8 kilometers (5 miles) on stilts, a record which had stood since 1892.

Ashrita breaking the record for balancing on a Swiss ball (2 hours 16 mins 2 seconds) at Stonehenge, July 22 2003.
Ashrita breaking the record for balancing on a Swiss ball (2 hours 16 mins 2 seconds) at Stonehenge, July 22 2003.

[edit] Creating new records

Ashrita has also been a pioneer in setting records in several new activities including landrowing. Using a converted indoor rower with wheels and brakes, Ashrita rowed 1500 miles in 16 days in Bali in 1991. Ashrita also developed the sport of gluggling, underwater juggling, which he did for 48 minutes at Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater Worldin Auckland, New Zealand in 2002 and distance sack racing which Ashrita did for a mile while racing against a yak in Mongolia in 2007. On January 30, 2008, Ashrita Furman, 53, unveiled his giant $20,000 pencil - 76 feet long, 22,000 pounds (with 4,000 solid pounds of Pennsylvania graphite), after 3 weeks creation last August as birthday gift for teacher Sri Chinmoy. Longer than the 65 feet creation outside the Malaysia HQ of stationers Faber-Castell, it will be transported from Queens, New York, to the City Museum in St. Louis.[3]


Ashrita breaking the Guinness World Record for spinning the world's largest hula hoop at the Unisphere.
Ashrita breaking the Guinness World Record for spinning the world's largest hula hoop at the Unisphere.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Kilgannon, Corey. "Got Milk? Hula Hoop? It's a Record!; He's Guinness's King Of Strange Feats, All for Inner Peace", The New York Times, June 12, 2003. Accessed November 2, 2007.
  2. ^ Private communication, 2007
  3. ^ metro.co.uk, World's biggest pencil' draws in a crowd
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