Suresh Joachim
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Arulanantham Suresh Joachim is a Canadian of Sri Lankan Tamil ancestry who has broken 33 world records, in an attempt to benefit the underprivileged children of the world.
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[edit] Notable world records
In 1991, Joachim first discovered the Guinness Book of World Records. He was then inspired to break them himself, as it was the most obvious way he found for an "average" person like him to become famous. From 19 August - 29 September 1996, he set out on his first record attempt (running), in his hometown of Colombo, Sri Lanka. Joachim ran at least a little bit every hour for 1000 consecutive hours, totaling a distance of 3,495 km.
Wanting to follow that record, he set the record for balancing on one foot, by doing so for 76 hours 40 minutes at Vihara Maha Devi Park Open Air Stadium between 22-25 May 1997.
A broadcast by Joachim on Geethavaani Tamil Radio in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada, lasted for a record 120 hours. It was broadcast between 4 p.m. on 23 June and 4 p.m. on 28 June 2003. This record was unsuccessfully challenged a few times by DJ Max Rushden of BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, who was aiming for 121 hours.[1]
His wedding to Christa Rasanayagam on September 6, 2003 was held at Christ the King Catholic Church, Mississauga, Ontario. The wedding featured a record 79 bridesmaids, a record 47 groomsmen, and a record 60.09 m (197 ft 1 in) long wedding bouquet, held by the bride.
His next four records were all in Greater Toronto Area malls. On 28 November 2004, Joachim earned the record for quickest time reaching 100 miles on a treadmill, in 13 hr 42 min 33 sec at Square One Shopping Centre, Mississauga, Ontario. At the same time, he went the furthest distance in 24 hours on a treadmill, tallying a distance of 257.88 km (160.24 miles) from the 28th to the 29th. With running records in his collection, Joachim participated in the longest dance marathon by an individual. Set at the Dixie Outlet Mall in Mississauga, Ontario, the 100 hour event lasted from 16 to 20 February 2005.
Joachim set the record for the longest ten-pin bowling marathon, at 100 hours. He broke this record at Playtime Bowl in Toronto, Ontario from 8 to 12 June 2005.
On March 17, 2006, he set the world record for a couple dance marathon by dancing 31 hours consecutively with Tiffany Lesko. The dances performed included the waltz, quickstep, cha cha, samba, rumba, and jive.[1]
Joachim is currently attempting to set a record for basketball dribbling distance in 24 hours. The attempt is happening at Toronto's Elmbank Community Centre. Tyler Curiel has held the record of 174.46km since 2003, accomplished at Tulane University.[2]
[edit] Other Guinness-acknowledged records
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- Travelled a distance of 225.44 km on 'up' and 'down' escalators at Westfield Shopping Centre, Burwood, NSW, Australia, between 25 May and 31 May 1998
- Greatest distance covered in 24 hours whilst dribbling a basketball is 156.71 km (97.37 miles) at Vulkanhallen, Oslo, Norway on 30-31 March 2001
- Travelled a distance of 214.96 km (133.56 miles) in 48 hours on a treadmill at Crown Promenade, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia on 27-29 July 2002
- Travelled 86 km (53.43 miles) on a treadmill in 12 hours on 28 July 2002 at Crown Promenade, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
- The longest marathon by an individual lasted for 84 hours and was achieved from 1 to 4 February 2004 at the Magic Factory, Zurich, Switzerland
- Travelled 659.27 km (409.65 miles) on a treadmill in one week at Waou Club Med Gym, Paris, France between 31 July and 7 August 2004
- Longest recorded distance run whilst carrying a 4.5 kg brick in a nominated ungloved hand in an uncradled downward position is 128.675 km, and was completed around the Florence St. Mall Water Fountain, Hornsby, New South Wales, Australia
[edit] World Peace Marathon
To further his commitment to helping suffering children, Joachim will put world record attempts aside to attempt the World Peace Marathon this year and the next. He plans to journey through 88 major cities in 54 countries, or 6,000 km in 182 days, passing a symbolic peace torch to dignitaries at each stop. The journey will start in Jerusalem (12:00 a.m., December 25, 2007), and end in Sydney, Australia (5:00 p.m. on June 24, 2008). In Sydney, Joachim hopes to wrap up the tour by handing the torch to the Prime Minister of Australia, currently John Howard, followed by "a huge musical celebration". The ultimate goal of the tour is to raise $1 billion CAD for UFFORSC.
Joachim will also submit a petition with million signatures to make June 24 a worldwide cease fire day.
[edit] References
- ^ CNW: Dance Marathon Couple, 15 March 2006
- ^ Chris Clay, "Record-breaker aims for another one", Mississauga News, 28 August 2006.
