Alastair Galpin
took to world record-breaking in 2004 after being inspired by a record-setting rally driver in Kenya. What began as a hobby soon escalated into an active publicity pursuit. Today, he promotes the work of social and environmental causes. For these purposes, the most fitting game plans are chosen; then world titles are attempted and frequently created.
Sustaining sponsor
If you would like regular exposure from Alastair's activities, become his Sustaining Sponsor:
- A range of attempts annually
- Your brand in multiple media
- Distribute your own media releases
- Receive product endorsements
How To Be A Successful Record-Breaker
Your Opinion?
There seem to be plenty of folk who really want to know this, because I keep getting asked. I could write a compact step-by-step booklet with plenty of visuals, that would include:
- Secrets which took me to #2 worldwide during the previous decade
- Brainstorming, finding the right team, and gathering media interest
- Tips to get active support from people who wouldn't otherwise get involved
- Fast clever ways to analyse the benefits associated with potential records
- Optimal balances between fun and commitment, useful milestone indicators and more...
The booklet would be download-able for a small payment.
Would you be a potential customer? Email me!
Filmmakers' saying
You can have it cheap, fast or good.
Pick two...
– It can be cheap and fast, but it won't be good.
– It can be cheap and good, but it won't be fast.
– It can be good and fast, but it won't be cheap.
Special thanks
|
Behind every world record
attempt Their success underpins mine. |
| They are listed here |
Just another banana skin on the road to world record success
Please note:
neither Alastair Galpin nor WorldRecordChase.com
will be responsible for any actions whatsoever
undertaken by any person as a result of visiting
this website. If you intend to attempt to emulate
any of Alastair's world record attempts, always seek
expert advice.
If you would
like to help sponsor me to enable me to make further
record attempts, please visit my sponsorship page.
Anyone who is a fan of Tom and Jerry™ will know just how easy it is, when racing to achieve anything, for someone to throw a banana skin on the floor and for that to ruin everything.
Well, breaking world records is not just about facing up to a challenge and achieving your best. Despite all the training, commitment and planning, there is always someone or something just waiting - holding that banana skin in front of you.
These are brief stories of how some of my world record attempts have not quite turned out the way I envisaged. Nevertheless, as they say, it’s better to try and fail than not to try at all. Don’t you agree?
Some of my failures leave me with no choice but to make fun of myself – and I don’t mind if you do that too!
Watch your step!
Beware – your shoelaces are undone
A world record attempt to tie the most shoelaces in a minute? Something should have told me this was bound to trip me up!
The key to world record success is to practise, practise, practise. I needed to master a repetitive finger movement without making a mistake. So after much effort, I found a sympathetic school at which I could practise regular shoelace tying. Each visit then saw me surrounded by a well-formed semi-circle of students, with their untied laces carefully laid out for me to tackle. The students and teachers were wonderful, giving me plenty of praise and encouragement, yet I never truly felt satisfied that I had perfected the technique.
Why oh why did I not listen to those inner doubts? Instead, buoyed by enthusiasm, I jumped on an aeroplane. I was driven to a TV studio, with cameras and audience waiting to witness my remarkable feat.
On arrival, the television studio staff
were welcoming and showed me a large collection of
second-hand shoes, all with laces to be tied. There was
just an hour to prepare, and then I’d be the focus of
the TV cameras on nationwide television.
A blur of fingers and colourful shoelaces later, this was making good TV and the TV presenter declared, “He’s done it” to great applause from the audience and crew.
Then, someone threw a banana skin…..
Amongst the cheers and clapping, there was me, having to speak up and explain that I had actually failed – it would have taken me 62 seconds to tie all the laces – 2 seconds more than was allowed.
The sounds of clapping and cheering still ringing in my ears, and the heat of my embarrassment still obvious on my face, I had to catch an Air New Zealand flight home with a bulky bag of odd shoes. I tied them to a metal beam when I got home and hoped to continue practising.
Then, another banana skin came – after all that time practising, my failure on nationwide TV, and then a young man at Global Village in Dubai, surpassed the goal I was aiming for.
So, what have I learnt?
Maybe showing the world how to tie shoelaces was not
the best idea… Not a great spectacle for television
either – being hunched over a line of shoes tying
myriads of multi-coloured shoelaces…. And I most
definitely learned that untied laces are bound to trip
you up!
Instead of slippery, why not try something sticky?
Post-it™ notes are well known the world over for being a useful bit of paper you can stick anywhere as an aide-memoire. So when looking at the collection on my desk while thinking of future world record attempts, I thought, why not try the world record for the most valuable Post-it™ note?
No bananas in sight when I set out on this record attempt.
It was going to be in aid of charity. An outstanding New Zealand artist was drew of simple scene on the square note of paper. We just needed some celebrities to add their signatures to the remaining blank spaces.
A mayor, politicians and entertainers all provided local interest and soon provided their inky autographs. We even persuaded a senior staff member at Weta (the workshop behind designs, props and costumes for some of the world’s leading movies, such as District 9 and Lord of the Rings) to add their name.
A
very successful New Zealand based auction website, Trade Me, agreed
to waive all fees and auction the unique Post-it™ note
on behalf of the charity. We publicised the auction as
best we could, with mentions in local media.
I was all set – walking along, head in the clouds, certain that this was going to be another great world record.
Then, someone dropped a banana skin, and in true tradition, we ended up being brought down to earth with a hefty bump.
The auction failed to attract a high enough bid to beat the existing world record of several hundred US dollars.
So, what have I learnt?
Maybe the colour should have been a warning sign… Even
unique Post-it™ notes eventually lose their stickiness
and fall off the notice board. Maybe thinking the whole
country would grind to a halt and be gripped in fever
over a small piece of paper, just so I’d be satisfied
and gain a new world record, was too much to expect! Oh
well, with a bigger piece of paper, a bigger drawing and
who knows what we might achieve!
Hunger can lead to some very odd world record attempts
Like so many other people, I enjoy the odd hot-cross bun. No bananas needed for the mixture, so why not try for the world record for the largest hot-cross bun?
The
recipe seemed fairly simple and was well established.
Flour, salt, mixed spice, butter, lemon, yeast, eggs,
milk, dried fruit and vegetable oil. All we needed was
to toss in some of New Zealand’s top chefs, and a local
pottery to provide a big enough oven, and bake a 120-kg
dough.
Following the preparation and mixing, the baking - which was scheduled to continue through the night - started well. I drifted off to sleep, dreaming of breaking another world record.
Then, how did that banana skin get into my dream – I sure as hell didn’t intend it to be there, but someone just had to toss it in on the way…..
It was the head chef, shaking my shoulder to wake me up – hardly after midnight. The bun wasn’t even half-cooked by then, so why couldn’t he leave me alone, rather than changing that next world record certificate that someone was handing me in my dreams, into a great yellow slippery fruit?
“Alastair, I’m sorry to wake you, but the kiln is just not heating up fast enough…..”
Snapping quickly back to reality – the
chefs opened the kiln door to peep on progress. Instead
of resembling a half-baked hot-cross bun, it looked more
like Mount St
Helens – it had literally exploded!
I was keen to abandon the attempt, but kept going for the sake of those involved. We even got plenty of media attention – which heralded it as a “hot-cross bomb”.
So, what have I learnt?
No matter how tried and tested a recipe may be, once
you increase the quantities by a hundred-fold, someone
has to remember to light the oven a lot earlier than
normal! Mental note to self: remember that dried fruit
may just contain banana skins. I may think I can bake
buns, but my bomb production success rate is 100%
effective (so long as you are looking to cover everyone
in dough). Maybe I should be hosting a TV show on
nightmares from my kitchen.
Why not let something more sure-footed try to avoid the peel?
As I have shown my inability to walk the long road to world record success without slipping on a few bits of peel along the way, I thought my next world record attempt was a certain winner.
Surely, by finding a well-trained dog to attempt the longest dog tunnel – with four paws, rather than my two feet - we had more chance of not slipping?
I’d chosen a school to host this charity event. The Auckland Council worked swiftly to issue me with all the required permits on short notice while I invested much effort in finding suitably trained dogs.
After consultation, a frisky black and white canine was chosen from a local dog club. Teachers lined up hundreds of pupils outside the front of their school, to form a human tunnel for the dog to pass through. The long line kept close to a conveniently situated tall stone wall running the length of that pavement section.
Then
for the attempt. Responding to its owner’s command, the
dog did extremely well amongst all those legs and ran
along the tunnel.
But then, I learned that even dogs are prone to the odd banana skin…
The dog stopped briefly, once. This meant the attempt was disqualified. I and the dog’s owner were disappointed. At least the school children had enjoyed the activities and break from the classroom.
So, what have I learnt?
Beating world records is about recognising the fun element of taking part, even if the attempt is unsuccessful. However, dragging a whole school away from their educational lessons to participate in a public failure just because I thought it might be enjoyable may not be the best idea.
What is it they say about working with animals and
children?
Instead of slipping on banana skins, why not make them part of a world record?
All these attempts have taught me to be fearful of banana skins being dropped in my path. So why oh why did I think the best solution was to attempt a world record for the most bananas snapped in a minute?
Snapping the yellow and green fruit became a daily chore for me. This was the way to tackle an issue which was haunting me – show who’s boss.
I erected a make-shift table under my garden trees and cut thin logs to resemble large bananas for practising. The wooden pieces made a great noise as they struck the side wall of my house.
After weeks of this routine practising
over and over, I was flown halfway across New Zealand
for a very popular
programme which TVNZ aimed at viewers of all ages.
I knew my success would depend heavily on the ripeness
and firmness of the donated bananas awaiting my arrival.
Bananas, live TV and an audience – what more could I ask for (or rather what greater warnings could I have had)?
Once in the studio, I was under pressure to lay out the fruit in time for my slot. Then on live TV, with the cameras watching my every move and a stopwatch at the ready, I launched into action, snapping the bananas. But, my hands tired more quickly than I’d anticipated, slowing me down. Time itself seemed to slow as I struggled to make my body work faster.
Then, “stop!” - the signal for 60 seconds was given – I was an instant self-made banana-snapping failure – all I could do was gaze straight into a TV camera as viewers across the nation stared at me.
So, what have I learnt?
Bananas are made for eating – not for stunts, snapping or slipping. The attempt may have been amusing to watch, but it also showed I can’t quite exist without my incompletely evolved personality coming through. Yes, I admit it, I am part-ape!