Bob Evans Lowers 5K Joggling Record to 16:42

Check out Bob Evans crushing his own world record for the joggling 5K at the Super Kids Sunday event in Long Beach, California. Oh, and he won the race outright. Bob's wife Trish also joggled a spectacular 21:02, not far off her own women's world record of (I think) 20:31. After the race, the couple put on a juggling the unicycling show.

5000m Joggling Guinness World Record Attempt

I'm going for the 5000m joggling Guinness World Record tonight (Aug. 10) at about 7:30 p.m. at the Central Tech track in downtown Toronto.

The current record of 16:55 has stood for 25 years. Is it a tough one to beat? Hell yeah! I fell short by 8 seconds in my last try a few years ago and that one really hurt. I'm hoping to run a nice even pace this time.

Feldman breaks 5-ball 5000m joggling record

Matt Feldman of Washington, Fla. set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest 5000m while joggling with five balls. The 18-year-old University of Florida student ran the 12.5-lapper in 27:06, eclipsing Billy Gillen's previous record of 28:11, set back in 1989.

For all the non-jugglers out there, juggling five balls is about 10 times harder than juggling three. Running while juggling five is, well, really, really hard. Joggling a 27-minute 5000 is a spectacular feat.

5K Joggling Record Attempt

Here's a roundup from SNAP magazine of the recent 5K joggling record attempt. Those look a lot like Adrienne Stewart's photos. Looking at that report makes me want to try for that record again. This spring ... attempt #2.

5K Joggling Race Splits

I'm too busy to write a proper report right now, but here are my splits from the 5K Joggle-off, according to my friend George:

Lap Time Cumulative
1 80.42
2 80.54
3 80.27
4 79.57
5 80.89 6:41.69
6 80.43
7 80.86
8 83.08 10:46.06
9 84.64
10 86.67 13:37.39
11 89.29
12 83.56 16:30.24
12½ 35.76**

** All of your splits were accurate except the last ½ lap (estimated, because it was on the opposite side of the track)

Pictures to follow soon.

I had a bit of a lapse in laps 10 and 11. I'm kicking myself now for slowing down. Now I'm all fired up to try again. Simon had a couple of friends pace us for 80-second laps, which was a huge help. The guys staying right on pace through 4000m, then pulled aside as planned for us to finish it up on our own.

Simon dropped five times, and surely would have broken the record with a drop-free race. I didn't drop, but didn't run fast enough. Thanks to everyone who showed up to spectate, and to Canadian Running Magazine for sponsoring the event. It was so much fun to joggle on the Varsity track.

Next up: Running the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on the Tom Longboat team. The race is celebrating 100 years of the marathon distance with teams of runners dressed as Tom Longboat, the Toronto runner who was favoured to win the 1908 Olympic marathon in London, Dorando Pietri, who crossed the line first but was disqualified for being helped across the line, and Johnny Hayes, who won the gold after Pietri's disqualification.

Canadian Running Magazine 5K Joggle-Off

Prelim. results:
Simon Hodge, Toronto: 17:04
Michal Kapral, Toronto: 17:05

Gearing Up for the 5000m

I went to the track on the weekend for a time trial to see what kind of joggling shape I'm in for the 5000m world record attempt. It turns out that I have a lot of work to do in the next few weeks. I joggled 2 x 1600m in 5:20 each and then joggled an 800 in 2:40. It was much harder than I expected, which could have something to do with the fact that I haven't been training very much lately. Let's see if I can get fit in time for the big race on August 29.

Joggling the Father's Day 5K

I snoozed the alarm in my sleep and almost missed the Father's Day 5K. The whole family slept in and I was the only one to make it out to Toronto's Distillery District for the prostate cancer charity run.

The distillery is a perfect venue for a run like this. There's a tonne of space both outdoors and in, and the roads in the area are flat and almost traffic-free.

I used my Sport Juggling Co. racing beanbags and started out in the lead. But a drop at 1K took me back into 2nd place, where I stayed until the end. I finished comfortably in 18 minutes, so I still think a world-record, sub-16:55 is doable on the track.

It's good to be joggling again.

Ray from Bluevelo e-mailed me today to let me know that I'm booked for a velomobile test drive next Sunday. I'll be trying out the WAW and the Versatile. Can't wait!

Saunders just misses 5K joggling record

Canadian joggler Travis Saunders
(Photo: Stephen Petrick, KingstonThisWeek.com)

I ran home from work yesterday without joggling. I had my beanbags in my knapsack, and was tempted to bring them out, but I resisted and ran the entire route as a normal runner. To make up for the lack of juggling, I did some gut-wrenching short intervals.

I'm honoured to have been chosen as the Runner of the Week on the site, Faithful Soles. Check it out here.

In other joggling news, I'd like to congratulate fellow Canadian joggler, Travis Saunders, on an excellent 5K race this past weekend. Travis was trying to break the 5K joggling world record at the Limestone 5K in Kingston, Ontario. He ran a superb 17:05, missing the 21-year-old record by just 10 seconds. Travis told me he did drop once and that probably made the difference. I'd love to organize a 5000m showdown against him on the track. Could this be the start of a new friendly joggling rivalry?