HELP US BREAK A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD THIS WEEKEND!

Some beer industry people are joining an amazing group of people to break a Guinness World Record in support of a great cause – and you can help!

Probably the best part of trips to the library in elementary school was when you or one of your friends managed to get your hands on a copy of the Guinness World Records book.  We would be amazed by the lengths some people went to break a record, and we’d spend the whole time flipping through its pages from amazing record to amazing record.

Since it was first published in 1955, the Guinness Book of World Records has sold more than 100 million copies, making it the bestselling copyright book in history, said only to have been outsold by the Bible, the Koran, and Chairman Mao. Annually, more than fifty thousand people apply for a GWR (Guinness World Record), though only around 1000 make it into the book. That doesn’t stop people from trying as they receive more than 1000 attempts per week.

On May 28^th, Graham Sherman of Tool Shed Brewing, PJ L’Heureux of Craft Beer Market, and Mark Kondtrat and Bill Robinson of Alberta Beer Festivals, along with 146 other incredible people, will be tethered together to run the Calgary Marathon attempting to break a Guinness World Record for the ‘Most linked runners to complete a marathon’ to raise awareness and funds for Mitocanada and mitochondrial disease. This group of people, plus some absolutely amazing volunteers (link below if you want to be one of them!), will gather on the Stampede grounds at 5:30am that morning even though the run doesn’t start until 7am, because it will take that long for everyone to find their location and get tied in. From there, they’ll wait until all the other marathon runners have left, and then head out tied together. The first thing that came to my mind when hearing the plan was if there was a Guinness Record for most people group peeing at one time – because we’ll only be able to stop 3 times on the 42.6 km course due to logistics. The whole thing is expected to take us 5 hours – and if you’re curious how it will work, (and trust me when I say the people involved are pretty intrigued haha) check out this video put together by one of the runners, outlining the logistics of how the day will unfold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbc81x6sXdM&feature=youtu.be

It’s fitting then for those of us from the beer community who are participating in this attempt that the Guinness Book of World Records has a long history with beer itself. It was in fact Sir Hugh Beaver, then managing director of Guinness Brewery, who on November 10^th, 1951, decided after an argument about Europe’s fastest flying game bird, that there should be one place where important records should be kept to help settle friendly disputes between friends at the pub. (just to settle any arguments between people who are reading this, it is the Golden Plover and not the Red Grouse – see how helpful this book is!)

It’s also pretty cool to think that millions of people read this book – and that our names could be printed in the same book as icons like Usain Bolt and Neil Armstrong. And the funny thing is, the record itself isn’t the most important part of all this. It’s about coming together as a community to try and do something that hasn’t been done before, all in support of a great cause!

The charity we are fundraising for is MitoCanada Foundation – and you can follow our journey to becoming ‘Officially amazing’ in the GWR books at #MitoLinked150

Please consider making a donation to help make a difference in the lives of those affected by mitochondrial disease and supporting our motto of ‘Running for those who can’t’!

Mitochondrial disease affects 1 in 4,000 people and is a genetic disease that affects our body’s ability to produce energy at the cellular level. Due to the complexity of the disease and diagnostic challenges, it is estimated that less than 10% of the people who have the disease have been diagnosed. There are minimal treatments and no cure.

Click Here to Donate – https://secure.e2rm.com/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?registrationID=3760173&langPref=en-CA

How it will work video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vbc81x6sXdM&feature=youtu.be

Volunteer Sign Up – https://www.volunteersignup.org/WYJWP

Thanks for any support you can give! We appreciate it!

Sincerely,

Bill Robinson