Ashrita Furman facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Ashrita Furman
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Furman in Rome, Italy 2011
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Keith Furman
September 16, 1954 Brooklyn, New York
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| Occupation | Health food store manager |
| Years active | 1979–present |
Ashrita Furman, born Keith Furman on September 16, 1954, is an amazing American who holds many Guinness World Records. As of 2023, he has achieved over 700 official Guinness Records. He currently holds more than 200 records at the same time! This means he holds the world record for holding the most world records. Ashrita has been breaking records since 1979.
Contents
Ashrita Furman: The Record Breaker
Early Life and Inspiration
Ashrita Furman was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1954. When he was a child, he loved reading the Guinness Book of World Records. However, he never thought he could break a record himself because he wasn't very athletic.
As a teenager, Ashrita became interested in spirituality. This is about exploring the meaning of life and connecting with something greater. In 1970, he began to follow the teachings of a spiritual leader named Sri Chinmoy.
Sri Chinmoy encouraged Ashrita to try new things. In 1978, Ashrita entered a 24-hour bicycle race in New York City's Central Park. Even with only two weeks of practice, he cycled an incredible 405 miles (652 km) and tied for third place! Around this time, he changed his first name to Ashrita, which means 'protected by God' in Sanskrit.
First Amazing Feats
In 1979, Ashrita achieved his very first official Guinness World Record. He completed 27,000 jumping jacks! Imagine doing that many!
Later, in 1986, Ashrita even invented a new type of record. He became the first person to jump on a pogo stick underwater. He showed this amazing feat on the TV show Good Morning America on April Fools' Day.
Records Across the Globe
Ashrita has managed a health food store in Jamaica, Queens, New York, since 1982. He also helps organize tours for his meditation group. This work allows him to travel all over the world.
Ashrita has set records in many countries. He even achieved his goal of breaking a record on all seven continents! In 2003, he set the record for hula hooping for a mile at Uluru (also known as Ayers Rock) in the Australian desert.
He has performed incredible stunts at famous places around the world. These include:
- Balancing a pool cue for a long distance at the Egyptian pyramids.
- Standing on a Swiss ball at Stonehenge.
- Doing the most sit-ups in an hour at the Eiffel Tower.
- Hopping on a kangaroo ball along the Great Wall of China.
- Running a mile while balancing a milk bottle on his head at Borobudur.
- Jumping rope on a pogo stick at Angkor Wat.
While in China, Ashrita also broke a record that had stood since 1982. He ran 8 km (5.0 mi) on stilts in just 39 minutes and 56 seconds!
Inventing New Challenges
Ashrita is not just good at breaking existing records; he also creates new ones! He helped develop "landrowing," which uses a special indoor rower with wheels. In 1991, he rowed 1,500 miles (2,400 km) in 16 days in Bali using this invention.
He also created "gluggling," which is juggling underwater! In 2002, he gluggled for 48 minutes at Kelly Tarlton's Antarctic Encounter and Underwater World in Auckland, New Zealand. Another unique record he set was distance sack racing. In 2007, he raced a yak for a mile in Mongolia while inside a sack!
On January 30, 2008, Ashrita showed off his giant pencil. This amazing pencil was 76 feet (23 m) long and weighed 22,000 pounds! It had 4,000 pounds of solid Pennsylvania graphite inside. The pencil was built in just three weeks as a birthday gift for his teacher, Sri Chinmoy, in August 2007. It was even longer than the 65-foot (20 m) pencil at the Faber-Castell headquarters in Malaysia. This huge pencil was moved from Queens, New York, to the City Museum in St. Louis.
In April 2009, Ashrita Furman became the first person ever to hold 100 Guinness World Records at the same time. What an achievement!
See Also
- Impossibility Challenger
