Find out who Lincolnshire’s Guinness World Record Holders are

Was it just me, or did anyone else spend hours of their childhood poring over the latest edition of the Guinness Book of Records, marvelling at the amazing facts and feats recorded within its pages?

Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s Record Breakers was staple viewing and never ceased to amaze me as it celebrated the weird, the wonderful and all the things that made people unique.

Now with more than 153 million books sold globally to date, Guinness World Records is the ultimate authority on all record-breaking achievements and this year celebrates its 70th anniversary.

Did you know, it actually started out as an idea for a book of facts devised to solve pub arguments after Guinness Brewery managing director Sir Hugh Beaver attended a shooting party in the early 1950s. He and his hosts argued about the fastest game bird in Europe – but couldn’t find a definitive answer in any reference book.

In 1954, recalling his argument Sir Hugh had the idea for a Guinness promotion based on the notion of settling pub arguments and invited Fleet Street researchers, twins Norris and Ross McWhirter, to compile a book of facts and figures. It went on to become an all-time best seller.

Having delved a bit deeper into the Guinness World Record archives, there are lots of Lincolnshire based record breakers and we’ve explored some of the weird, wonderful and amazing achievements below…

* Last year Simon Killen, from Saracen’s Head, 46 at the time, completed the London Marathon dressed as Mario to become the fastest ever runner dressed as a video game character. He completed the 26.2 miles course in 02:52:57.

* The tallest climbing fuchsia measured 11.4 m (37 ft 5 in) on June 13, 2005. The plant is owned by Reinhard Biehler and grown at Baytree Nurseries and Garden Centre, in Weston.

* The Guinness World Record for fastest bale rolling is held by Michael Priestley and Marcus Stanley, of Heckington Young Farmers Club, who rolled a cylindrical bale 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) wide over a course 50 m (164 ft) long in 18.06 seconds at the Lincolnshire Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs annual sports day in Sleaford, on June 25, 1989.

* The Guinness World Record for stretchiest skin hasn’t been broken since 1999. It’s held by Garry Turner, from Caistor, who was able to stretch his stomach to a distended length of 15.8 cm (6.25 in) when it was last measured. Garry has a rare medical condition called Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome - a disorder that affects the connective tissues of the skin, ligaments and internal organs – which enables him to stretch his skin so far.

* The farthest javelin throw by a female F46 athlete is 43.02 metres, achieved by Hollie Arnold, of Holton-le-Clay, at the World Para Athletics Championships, London, UK, on 15 July 2017. Hollie beat her previous record set at the 2016 Rio Paralympics by just one centimetre.

* The longest marathon playing indoor bowls is 62 hours and was achieved by Lisa Devlin, Stanley Day, Paul Fawcett, Collette Fawcett, Dean Morley and Andy Sellars, in Lincoln, from 14 to 17 April 2023. The team decided to make the attempt after a discussion about their ability to ‘bowl all night’.

* Stamford inventor and You Tuber Colin Furze holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest pram, which hit a speed of 86.04 km/h (53.46 mph) when he set the record at Shakespeare County Raceway, in Stratford-upon-Avon, in October 2012.

Colin also holds the records for fastest bumper car/dodgem, which achieved a top speed of 161.476 km/h (100.336 mph) when tested by The Stig from BBC’s Top Gear in 2017. He previously held the record for fastest motorised toilet with a speed of 85.6 km/h (53.25 mph) but that has since been broken.

* The highest barley yield is 16.2 tonnes per hectare and was achieved by Tim Lamyman, in Worlaby Dale Top, near Brigg, on July 13, 2022. The previous record had not been broken for over seven years.

* The fastest cross country 10km carrying an 80lb pack is one hour and 30 seconds and was achieved by ex-marine Collin Harrison, in Revesby, Lincolnshire, on August 6, 2023.

Collin, from Dunston, is a multiple Guinness World Records title holder in the field of long distance running with a weighted pack and holds the record for the fastest marathon and fastest half marathon carrying an 80lb pack among others.

* The latest arrival onto the list might be Sigi Solly — after a record attempt at Rutland Water.

Sigi believes he can claim a record for the furthest distance sailed single-handedly across a lake in six hours for charity. He has submitted his evidence to the Guinness World Records but faces up to a five-month wait for his attempt to be verified.

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