ASHRITA FURMAN

'Ashrita Furman', has set more than 160 official Guinness records over the past 25 years and currently holds 67 records, more than any other individual. (A complete list of Ashrita’s current records can be found on his website).
__TOC__

Contents

Life and Records

Early life

First record

Records around the world

Creating new records

References

Life and Records

Early life

Ashrita was born in Brooklyn, NY 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.
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 week's 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.”

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.

At the Pyramids in Egypt, setting the world record for walking the longest distance while balancing a pool cue.

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 (also 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 space hopper) 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 does the records in a spirit of joy and is partial to records in such children’s activities as hopping (fastest mile on one leg), skipping without a jump rope (fastest marathon), hopscotch (most games in 24 hours), tiddlywinks (fastest mile), and top spinning (longest continuous time).

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 World in Auckland, New Zealand in 2002 and distance sack racing which Ashrita did for a mile while racing against a yak in Mongolia in 2007.

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

References

★ Official website of Ashrita Furman

★ Guinness Book of World Records website

★ "Scorecard/World Records: The Question Is Why? Ashrita Furman has hopped, juggled and yodeled to 57 Guinness marks." by John Walters, ''Sports Illustrated'', November 2 1998, pp. R16+

★ "Got Milk? Hula Hoop? It's a Record!; He's Guinness's King Of Strange Feats, All for Inner Peace" by Corey Kilgannon, ''New York Times'', June 12 2003 [1]

★ "On Top of the World," ''Reader's Digest'', Reader's Digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, NY, December 2004, p. 24.