TNR

Doesn’t time fly?  The noughties are drawing to a close and to mark the occasion, the 2010 edition of the Guinness World Records book is being published today including the top 100 record-breaking achievements of the 21^st century and featuring a world exclusive revealing the world’s new Tallest Man.

It’s also been a decade packed with British world records from

• the Fastest time to pluck three turkeys (11 min 30.16 sec – Essex) 
• the Longest rabbit ( 3ft 3in – Worcester)
• the Furthest Distance to unicycle in 24 hours (281.85 miles – Somerset)
• Most marathons run on consecutive days (York) by Michelle Atkins who managed an astonishing
• the 13,000-strong congregation who gathered to form the Largest Gathering of Santa Claus  (Ireland)
• the 27 haircuts achieved for Most haircuts underwater in one hour (Kent). 

 Last year 36 UK radio stations also competed live on air to set the Fastest time to recite the first verse of a song (team of two) by teaming up with the world’s Fastest Talker (Sean Shannon).  BBC Newcastle presenter Jon Harle set the record by completing the challenge in 7.06 seconds. Today, Guinness World Records Editor-in-chief, Craig Glenday and official Adjudicator, Marco Frigatti, were available via ISDN to talk about the highlights from the last 10 years of record breaking and how they set about selecting the top 100 for this year’s “Book of the Decade”.  

They also asked fans to vote for their favourites so they can determine which 21^st century record should be crowned top of the lot later in the year.  And readers certainly have a lot of weird, wonderful and whacky records to choose from, from the downright silly (the Highest Shallow Dive into 30cm of water was from a height of 35ft 9in – USA) to the difficult-to-believe (the Record for the Longest Time to Hold One’s Breath is 19 minutes 2 sec – Italy!).

Other records which have made it into the top 100 include:

• -          Youngest Billionaire (American, Mark Zuckerman, founder of Facebook who was 23 years and 296 days old when he made his first billion dollars).
• -          Longest Earthquake ( The Sumatra-Andaman Islands earthquake in the Indian Ocean on 26 December 2004 latest between 500 and 600 seconds with a magnitude of between 9.1 and 9.3 on the Richter scale)
• -          Most Pierced Man (78-year-old John Lynch (UK), who was found to have 241 piercings, including 151 in his head and neck, when examined in London, UK, on 17 October 2008. A former Barclays Bank manager, Lynch gave up his “regular” lifestyle in the late 1990s after reading a book on piercings).
• -          And, in a real sign of the times, the Largest Points Fall of the Dow Jones (in a day) which occurred on 29 September 2008 and was even greater than the fall which followed the terrorist attacks on 9/11.

Now in its 55^th year, the book includes hundreds of other new world records and includes spreads on human nature, human talents, hair-raising stunts and epic journeys alongside chapters on ‘Alternative Energies,’ ‘Eco-Transport,’ and ‘Terrorism and Warfare’ to reflect record-breaking global developments and events of the past ten years.  

Craig and Marco can also gave details about how to go about attempting to make or break a World Record.  They  encouraged people to come up with record ideas for this year’s Guinness World Records Day (Thursday 12th November 2009) which sees several hundred thousand people in countries across the world attempting to break records on the same day.

TNR managed to secure 30 interviews with major BBC  regional stations and radio agencies today including:

BBC Radio 3 Counties

Sky News Radio

BBC Radio Kent

BBC Radio Oxford

BBC Radio Scotland