Ashrita Furman, the man with the most Guinness Records in history

There is a select group of people who were born to make history. Since there are Guinness World Record countless brands have been broken over time. But Ashrita Furman (68) holds a unique prize: the man has set more than 600 Guinness World Recordsafter its first recorded test in 1979.

Furman currently has 530 current records, thus holding the Guinness World Record for the most Guinness World Records. Their feats are far-reaching, from an expedition to Mount Fuji on a pogo stick to giant spinning hula hoops.

Thanks to the great popularity he has had, the man has taken the opportunity to break records in many parts of the world and then speak before the public of his successes: “It may be that the fact of being born four days after the first book is been published in the Guinness Book of Records, in September 1954, has something to do with it,” the man said in an interview for abc some years ago.

Dedicated to spirituality

Ashrita Furman was born on September 16, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York, United States of America. As a child, I always read the Guinness World Record World Cup, but never thought he could participate as he was very unathletic. As a teenager he became interested in the world of spirituality and in 1970 became a devotee of a spiritual master named Chirnmoy.

Chinmoy was unwittingly a key element in Furman’s life. In 1978, the teacher invited him to participate in the 24-hour bicycle race in Central Park in New York City. With just two weeks of training, Furman finished third.

Chinmoy was surprised by his student’s good performance and told him that he was “protected by God”. For this Furman has decided to change its name to Ashrita (protected by god in sanskrit).

His first record and much more

After his breakthrough in bicycle racing, Furman started training much harder and decided to resume an old dream, to reach the Guinness Book of Books. In 1979, the man set his first record officer doing 27,000 jumps. In 1986, Furman invented and founded the underwater pogo stick record jump and presented it on the TV show good morning America.

In turn, he immersed himself in the healthy world and, together with a sponsoring brand, decided to open a health food store of his own name in the heart of Queens, New York.

Until then, Ashrita only thought he was a sane businessman. He neither believed nor expected everything that would happen to him later. But his “obsession” with records would make him a Guinness legend.

travel around the world

Since 1990, the man decided to travel the world breaking unusual records and his only goal from then on was to become a legend. His records have always been characterized by being physical in nature, be it racing or jumping.

Furman kept his promise and was about to become the person with the most Guinness records in history, of which he claims 530. In an interview for abc The man said: “It may be that the fact that I was born four days after the publication of the first Guinness book of records, in September 1954, has something to do with it.”

A very important record for Furman was the most candles on a birthday cake; Ashrita and other members of her spiritual communityI lit 72,585 candles to honor Sri Chinmoy’s 85th birthday.

Her accomplishments include the fastest mile during hula hooping, which she has acclimated to Australia. Fastest mile bouncing on a yoga ball (in Great Wall of China), the furthest distance when swinging a pool cue (close to Great Pyramids of Egypt), and the farthest distance rolling on your heels, among others.

But the strangest sign where it occurred Mongoliaand was running the fastest mile in a sack while racing a yak: “When I heard they had yaks (ox-like mammal) in Mongolia, I said it would be very exciting to have a race against one of them,” Furman said . to abc.

Furman was also a pioneer in setting records in several new activities, including earth digging. Using a converted indoor paddle with wheels and brakes, the man rowed 2,400km in 16 days in Bali in 1991. He also developed the sport of glugging, which he did for 48 minutes at the Antarctic and Kelly Tarlton’s Underwater Encounter World in Auckland, New Zeland.

Then Furman presented his giant pencil: 23 meters long. The pencil was built in three weeks as a birthday present for teacher Sri Chinmoy on August 27, 2007. In April 2009, Furman became the first person to have 100 Guinness World Records at a time.

Today, at 68, he has no plans to retire: “The search for new records has become an integral part of my spiritual journey. I’m always looking in the Guinness Book for some new category that is challenging and fun. I’m glad to see my progress until I reach my goal,” he replied when asked what motivates him to continue. And yes, in his own way he is already a legend who wants to keep growing.