A mammoth attempt at Guinness World Record
The weekend of June 06, saw a few very fit or perhaps very crazy individuals attempt to make a Guinness World record standard by pushing their bodies to the extreme.
Well known Keegan Longuiera was involved in the organization of the event with CrossFit Mammoth which planned that a team of ten contestants perform as many burpees in a relay team during a span of 12 hours.
A burpee is an exercise that sees the person lie flat on the floor, rise up to a push up position and jump up in the air with their hands above their heads. Now any novice would find this exercise exhilarating at the start and as soon as they felt the burn in their muscles, most likely stop. Unfortunately eight individuals up for the challenge were not so lucky on Saturday, 6 June.
Keegan was set to help with the planning of the event, but when a few people pulled out at the last minute a few hours before the event, he chose to step in and assist the team with only eight people involved as a relay, instead of the ten as previously planned.
“CrossFit Mammoth was single handedly responsible for the most pain I have experienced in my life,” said Keegan on his online blog following the event.
Yet, he was a great asset to the team, in addition to each of the remarkable members who chose to give up their time, their comforts and their sanity. The endurance team members consisted of: Ria Henn, Adriaan Coetse, Johan Coetzer, Francois Oosthuizen, Zane Jansen van Nieuwenhuizen, Diedrick Pretorius and Keegan Longuiera.
The Burpee Relay event took place outside Cappuccino’s at The Highveld Mall from 8am to 8pm,and coincided with their Health and Fitness Week. It was the perfect avenue to again promote the noteworthy cause of Operation Smile and more funds were raised for another cleft-palette and lip surgery.
After twelve grueling hours of mental, emotional and physical torture, the group of only eight participants, managed 13 697 burpees, establishing a new baseline for the Guinness World Record.
The team would just like to thank all the sponsors who provided much needed support in the form of location, coffee, water, lunches, physiotherapy to mention but a few and they include Highveld Mall, Spur, Cappuccinos, Ocean Basket, Lemon Events, Transvaal Training and Lee Ann Nieuwoudt.
Article by: Stacey Venter
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