They lifted and squated and now, they've won. Congratulations to the University of Washington and their faculty and staff for taking last week's Fan Choice with a resounding 64.59% of the vote. Their successful record at the largest kettlebell class dusted the competition, with the next-nearest vote-getter earning only 26.31% of the tallies.
Every Friday here, we'll pick five records recently approved by our expert Records Management Team. We'll give you a little background on each and then ask you to vote for your favorite. The winners from each week, like UDub, will be entered into an end-of-year bracket to determine the Fan Choice record of the year.
Read about our 2013 Fan Choice Record of the Year winner here.
This week features a thousand people helping a food bank and an afro being used for a very unique purpose. But first, anyone for ham?
MOST PEOPLE SLICING MEAT (pictured above)
Record: 162
Holder: Group organized by Antonio Ramos García (Spain)
Location: Benarrabá, Malaga, Spain
That's not all: García organized the attempt to bring attention to the Spanish meat-carving industry, as well as the specific meat that was used, the famed jamón ibérico. Each professional was required to slice a minimum of 5 slices with a thickness of between 0.5-1.5 mm.
MOST STRAWS IN THE HAIR
Record: 312
Holder: Stephen Rafferty (USA)
Location: Davie, Florida, USA
That's not all: Rafferty had the idea for this after coworker Maria Yunez randomly was able to place 40 pens in his hair during one afternoon at work. Having then found this record in the GWR database, Rafferty - with the help of Yunez and colleague Grant McQueenie - knew they had their found their perfect chance to make history.
LONGEST CRICKET MARATHON
Record: 150 hr 14 min
Holder: Loughborough University Staff Cricket Club (UK)
Location: Loughborough College Rubber Crumb in Loughborough, Leicestershire, UK
That's not all: The marathon pitted "Chris' Crusaders" against "Waghray's Warriors," with the Crusaders winning 10 matches to the Warriors' nine. Chris' Crusaders scored a total of 6,382 runs, while Waghray's Warriors managed 6,346 runs. Crusaders player Surender Mohandass nailed the highest individual score in an innings, with an unbeaten 323 in Match 14.
MOST HUNGER RELIEF PACKAGES ASSEMBLED SIMULTANEOUSLY
Record: 1,000
Holder: Sandalwood Heights Secondary School (Canada)
Location: Brampton, Canada, Ontario
That's not all: As this record requires all of the packages to be donated or given away, it's not just the record breakers who benefit. The event was sponsored by the Loblaw Corporation and Accenture and benefitted local food banks, The Knights Table and the Salvation Army. A total of 500 participants assembled two hunger relief packages each within the allowed three-minute time frame.
LARGEST BACKWARDS WALK
Record: 1,107 participants
Holder: Prestige Institute of Management and Research (India)
Location: Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India
That's not all: The attempt was part of an annual entrepreneurship week with a theme of "Innovating India." The Prestige Institute celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, and annually during it's entrepreneurship week, tasks students with organizing a group event like this one. The walk was required to travel at least 1 km.
And those are your nominees; time now to cast your vote!
Then check back here next week to see who you've helped crown the latest fan favorite!
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