1986 Guinness World Records

Ashrita Furman, an American, grew up in Queens, was born in 1954, the very time when the first Book of Guinness World Records was published. It was published only in 1000 copies.

By Christmas that year, “Guinness” became the most selling book in UK. The publishers all over the world became interested in this book, so at this moment it is being translated into more than 30 different languages. The very book became a recorder, after Bible it is the most selling book in the world.
While being a small boy, Ashrita Furman was really clumsy and he wasn’t to good in sports. All of those things have changed while he was a teenager, when he became interested in Eastern learning, especially for Indian teacher Shri Chinmoya. Suddenly he realized that if he believes in himself and his own abilities, he will be able to do all those things he, by that time, believed he is not able to do.

And the story goes…In 1978, he was after only two weeks of practice in a big bicycle race in Central Park in New York. The race was to last 24 hour’s, and by a big miracle he managed to pass 652 km and won the third place. Than he stated that that experience was one of the most important in his life, that after that moment when he ride off his bike after exhausting 24 hour’s of unstopping ride, he knew that he managed to control his inner strength. All the rest became a history. From that moment Ashrita Furman is contesting in different Guinness’s records.

His first Guinness record was in 1979. He did 27 000 jumping jacks! That was just the beginning which gave him strength to carry on with Guinness records in more than 30 countries on 7 continents. In Book of Guinness World Records managed to get written as a champion more than 230 times. But this year in April, his dream became true. Even if that kind of title doesn’t exist, we can say that he is a recorder among recorders, Ashrita is a knight of Guinness.

I will just mention some of his records here, like: carrying a brick (weighting 4, 5 kg) in one hand, underwater juggling with 3 balls, jumping on one foot, racing with an egg in spoon, jumping in sack, fast piling and eating a lemon, fast glue banding a person to the wall, pushing a car, braking, as more as possible, eggs with head (boiled, of course), blowing out candles on the cake, cutting apples with Japanese samurai sword, tarring t-shirt in shortest possible time, eating onion in shortest possible time, eating “M&M” with chop sticks, making the biggest sculpture of pop corn…

When Ashrita Furman is not breaking Guinness records, he living in Queens and leads a store of healthy food. Since he became famous, not only in his country, he gets calls from all over the world. Furman is lecturing about his successes, in order to help people not to lose their faith, because they are not maybe conscious what they can achieve.