Zach Warren captured some pretty cool GoPro footage during my 5-ball joggling Guinness World Record attempt at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon.
Sunday, November 12, 2017
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Joggler Out: Spinning My 5-Ball Joggling Marathon Fail as a Success
I'm just going to throw this out there: Sometimes when you set ridiculously challenging goals for yourself, you will fail. That's exactly what happened to me at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon last Sunday. My goal was to set a new Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon while joggling five objects.
There was no current record, but the Guinness records-keepers decided through some calculus that 4 hours 40 minutes was the time to beat. This doesn't sound very quick, but here's the thing: running while simultaneously juggling five balls is exceedingly difficult. To a non-joggler, I might put it like this: joggling a marathon with three balls is like running a regular marathon, while joggling a marathon with five balls is like running a marathon hopping on your left foot only for the entire 42.2km. It's exponentially harder the further the distance.
422 drops to glory?
Leading up the race, my training had gone quite well. I practiced running 100m, 200m intervals joggling five balls, and worked my way up to being able to do some 400m joggles around the U of T Varsity track without dropping. But my average drop rate was still around every 100m, which is 422 drops for the marathon. I still thought it might be manageable, but knew based on timing my 100m joggles that a 4:40 marathon would be almost impossible.
Lucky for me, I had a chance do some training with five-ball joggling record-holder Matt Feldman, who is incredibly quick at the 400m, mile and 5K.
I also had lunch with five-ball joggling legend Barry Goldmeier, who regularly runs large portions of marathons while juggling five beanbags.
The week before the race, CTV News and CP24 ran stories about the record attempt.
I still can't stop laughing at the fact that I secured a sponsorship from the best cinnamon bun shop in Toronto. Thank you, Rosen's Cinnamon Buns for supporting my joggling dreams. A huge thank-you as well to Cheryl Sayers from Sport Juggling Company for the amazing Sportball beanbags.
Joggling jitters
Zach arrived from D.C. on Friday and we toured Toronto riding BikeShare bikes on Saturday, which was probably not the best thing to do the day before trying to set a world record. I hadn't seen Zach in 10 years, when we raced each other at the 2007 Salt Lake City Marathon. I discovered that he's still one of the greatest people you could ever meet.
Zach has worked as a circus performer, and is an expert juggler. The night before the marathon, we went out to practice some joggling to see how close he should follow during the race. Zach tried five-ball joggling and actually had some trouble with it. I realized that all my training had actually worked. I had developed a new skill (perhaps not the most useful skill in the world, but still...).
Race day. My nerves were joggling big-time, since I still didn't know if this record was even possible. It was very difficult to tell during my training how the race would play out, since I trained on a track, or on an empty stretch of road in my neighbourhood. Zach and I lined up in the slowest corral for marathon finish times of 4:30 and slower. I decided to start near the front of this group, thinking if I got a good clean start, I could stay up front in the clear and avoid the crowds. But just before the horn sounded for our corral's start, a bunch of runners shimmied in front of me and Zach, and I suddenly found myself squished in a large crowd.
I was immediately in a panic, trying to maintain the high tosses of the five-ball juggling pattern. I dropped several times right near the beginning, and scrambled to regroup right away so I didn't interfere with the runners behind me. This caused me to drop even more. I was exhausted almost right from the gun, and it just got worse from there. On the bright side, the spectators were loving it, and Zach shouted encouraging words to pull me out of my panicked state. It was still crowded up until about 3km, but by the time I had slowed enough to have some space to juggle, my energy was sapped. I felt like I had already run a marathon. I should've started at the very back and not worried about trying to run 4:40, but it was too late.
Give me a hand
In my frenzy, I somehow managed to injure my left hand, which began to hurt more and more with each toss. I hit 5K in 46 minutes, already 13 minutes behind schedule. Zach told me, based on my stride length and toss rate, that I would be making 130,000 tosses and catches for the marathon. It's going to be a long day, I thought. The next 5K took me 56 minutes. My hand was now in serious trouble, shooting pain up my forearm with each toss and catch. By the 13K turnaround on Lake Shore, I had entered survival mode. "We're going to finish this," Zach said. "My flight doesn't leave until tomorrow."
Close to my break point at about 15K, the race film crew showed up. Wonderful, I thought. Everyone can watch me fall apart. And they did. As I inched forward a few steps at a time, the camera crew remained. I thought about all the people who had donated to SickKids Foundation, I thought about the sick kids, and I thought about how lucky I was to be out there doing this.
The commentary on the race video is priceless. Canadian Running editor-in-chief Michael Doyle says it looks like a slow form of torture, and he was right!
Things were not going well at all.
I thought I could just will myself through the rest of the race, even if it took 15 or 20 hours. But just before the 17K marker, I knew my hand was too damaged to go on. I got the five-ball pattern going, joggled to the 17K sign, caught the balls, turned to Zach behind me, and declared, "Joggler out." At this point, we were in last place in the entire race of 18,000 people, followed by a line of police cars.
Zach said we should continue to run the rest of the marathon without juggling, and I agreed, though I secretly planned to bail at the half. A couple of kilometres later, we ran past three mounted police officers. Zach ran over to them and, employing his deft social skills from a decade of living and working in Afghanistan, he convinced them to gallop behind me on a final joggle. It was quite the scene. I ended up joggling at a good clip, as the clack of the hooves sounded altogether too close behind me.
Regular running
We continued on. Near the halfway point, we ran into my parents, my sister, Moira, and my niece, Kate. My mom reminded us that the course had a time limit of 6 hours. "A sub-2 half? We can do that!" Zach said, cheerfully. I put on my best smiley face, and off we went for another half marathon. We shared some good laughs with the walkers, and were ever grateful for the volunteers who remained at the scene to offer Gatorade and water to last runners and walkers. My entire body felt like it was falling apart, but somehow I found the strength to keep running. Zach hadn't run a marathon since our 2007 joggling duel in Salt Lake, and recently had back surgery, so he wasn't doing so well himself. But we chatted and laughed and joked our way through the rest of it.
I juggled for the last few metres across the finish line. Two of my beanbags hit the timing clock above the finish and thumped to the ground on the finish line. Seemed appropriate that these extra two balls fell at the end.
Post-joggle
Joggling five balls every step of the way over long distances is very hard. Ludicrous, really. I knew this challenge had a good chance of failure. But I emerged from the experience with an odd sense of excitement. I tried. I gave it everything. I juggled to the last catch possible.
I had the privilege of running with Zach Warren for 5 hours and 40 minutes, a great way to catch up with a friend after 10 years. I got to see my wife Dianne and kids, Annika and Lauryn at the end. Lots of people donated to SickKids, raising nearly $2,000. Zach and I posted a negative split of 1 hour 56 minutes and 31 seconds, possibly the largest negative split ever in a marathon. I joggled five balls of the race for 17K, which is likely the furthest anyone has gone for every step, returning behind the drop point after each drop. Zach and I had a chance to experience what it's like to be in last place in an IAAF Gold Label marathon. We met so many amazing people along the route. I got to joggle with a mounted police escort.
There was some pretty entertaining media coverage after the race, from Canadian Running, Men's Journal, Sky Sports, and the Toronto Star. The Twitter Moment for it was even shared around the world by Twitter Moments and Twitter Sports.
As joggler Bob Evans said to me on Facebook after the race, "There is no story without conflict. Your 5-ball marathon quest just got a lot more compelling. Keep going!" In this case, I battled the record, and the record won. This was captured perfectly in this screenshot of race video of me looking like a dejected gorilla.
Joggler out, but not down.
There was no current record, but the Guinness records-keepers decided through some calculus that 4 hours 40 minutes was the time to beat. This doesn't sound very quick, but here's the thing: running while simultaneously juggling five balls is exceedingly difficult. To a non-joggler, I might put it like this: joggling a marathon with three balls is like running a regular marathon, while joggling a marathon with five balls is like running a marathon hopping on your left foot only for the entire 42.2km. It's exponentially harder the further the distance.
422 drops to glory?
Leading up the race, my training had gone quite well. I practiced running 100m, 200m intervals joggling five balls, and worked my way up to being able to do some 400m joggles around the U of T Varsity track without dropping. But my average drop rate was still around every 100m, which is 422 drops for the marathon. I still thought it might be manageable, but knew based on timing my 100m joggles that a 4:40 marathon would be almost impossible.
Lucky for me, I had a chance do some training with five-ball joggling record-holder Matt Feldman, who is incredibly quick at the 400m, mile and 5K.
I also had lunch with five-ball joggling legend Barry Goldmeier, who regularly runs large portions of marathons while juggling five beanbags.
The week before the race, CTV News and CP24 ran stories about the record attempt.
I still can't stop laughing at the fact that I secured a sponsorship from the best cinnamon bun shop in Toronto. Thank you, Rosen's Cinnamon Buns for supporting my joggling dreams. A huge thank-you as well to Cheryl Sayers from Sport Juggling Company for the amazing Sportball beanbags.
Joggling jitters
Zach arrived from D.C. on Friday and we toured Toronto riding BikeShare bikes on Saturday, which was probably not the best thing to do the day before trying to set a world record. I hadn't seen Zach in 10 years, when we raced each other at the 2007 Salt Lake City Marathon. I discovered that he's still one of the greatest people you could ever meet.
Zach has worked as a circus performer, and is an expert juggler. The night before the marathon, we went out to practice some joggling to see how close he should follow during the race. Zach tried five-ball joggling and actually had some trouble with it. I realized that all my training had actually worked. I had developed a new skill (perhaps not the most useful skill in the world, but still...).
Race day. My nerves were joggling big-time, since I still didn't know if this record was even possible. It was very difficult to tell during my training how the race would play out, since I trained on a track, or on an empty stretch of road in my neighbourhood. Zach and I lined up in the slowest corral for marathon finish times of 4:30 and slower. I decided to start near the front of this group, thinking if I got a good clean start, I could stay up front in the clear and avoid the crowds. But just before the horn sounded for our corral's start, a bunch of runners shimmied in front of me and Zach, and I suddenly found myself squished in a large crowd.
I was immediately in a panic, trying to maintain the high tosses of the five-ball juggling pattern. I dropped several times right near the beginning, and scrambled to regroup right away so I didn't interfere with the runners behind me. This caused me to drop even more. I was exhausted almost right from the gun, and it just got worse from there. On the bright side, the spectators were loving it, and Zach shouted encouraging words to pull me out of my panicked state. It was still crowded up until about 3km, but by the time I had slowed enough to have some space to juggle, my energy was sapped. I felt like I had already run a marathon. I should've started at the very back and not worried about trying to run 4:40, but it was too late.
Give me a hand
 |
| My hand injury turned out to be a muscle tear. |
Close to my break point at about 15K, the race film crew showed up. Wonderful, I thought. Everyone can watch me fall apart. And they did. As I inched forward a few steps at a time, the camera crew remained. I thought about all the people who had donated to SickKids Foundation, I thought about the sick kids, and I thought about how lucky I was to be out there doing this.
The commentary on the race video is priceless. Canadian Running editor-in-chief Michael Doyle says it looks like a slow form of torture, and he was right!
Things were not going well at all.
I thought I could just will myself through the rest of the race, even if it took 15 or 20 hours. But just before the 17K marker, I knew my hand was too damaged to go on. I got the five-ball pattern going, joggled to the 17K sign, caught the balls, turned to Zach behind me, and declared, "Joggler out." At this point, we were in last place in the entire race of 18,000 people, followed by a line of police cars.
Zach said we should continue to run the rest of the marathon without juggling, and I agreed, though I secretly planned to bail at the half. A couple of kilometres later, we ran past three mounted police officers. Zach ran over to them and, employing his deft social skills from a decade of living and working in Afghanistan, he convinced them to gallop behind me on a final joggle. It was quite the scene. I ended up joggling at a good clip, as the clack of the hooves sounded altogether too close behind me.
Regular running
We continued on. Near the halfway point, we ran into my parents, my sister, Moira, and my niece, Kate. My mom reminded us that the course had a time limit of 6 hours. "A sub-2 half? We can do that!" Zach said, cheerfully. I put on my best smiley face, and off we went for another half marathon. We shared some good laughs with the walkers, and were ever grateful for the volunteers who remained at the scene to offer Gatorade and water to last runners and walkers. My entire body felt like it was falling apart, but somehow I found the strength to keep running. Zach hadn't run a marathon since our 2007 joggling duel in Salt Lake, and recently had back surgery, so he wasn't doing so well himself. But we chatted and laughed and joked our way through the rest of it.
I juggled for the last few metres across the finish line. Two of my beanbags hit the timing clock above the finish and thumped to the ground on the finish line. Seemed appropriate that these extra two balls fell at the end.
Post-joggle
Joggling five balls every step of the way over long distances is very hard. Ludicrous, really. I knew this challenge had a good chance of failure. But I emerged from the experience with an odd sense of excitement. I tried. I gave it everything. I juggled to the last catch possible.
I had the privilege of running with Zach Warren for 5 hours and 40 minutes, a great way to catch up with a friend after 10 years. I got to see my wife Dianne and kids, Annika and Lauryn at the end. Lots of people donated to SickKids, raising nearly $2,000. Zach and I posted a negative split of 1 hour 56 minutes and 31 seconds, possibly the largest negative split ever in a marathon. I joggled five balls of the race for 17K, which is likely the furthest anyone has gone for every step, returning behind the drop point after each drop. Zach and I had a chance to experience what it's like to be in last place in an IAAF Gold Label marathon. We met so many amazing people along the route. I got to joggle with a mounted police escort.
There was some pretty entertaining media coverage after the race, from Canadian Running, Men's Journal, Sky Sports, and the Toronto Star. The Twitter Moment for it was even shared around the world by Twitter Moments and Twitter Sports.
⚡️ “Toronto man tries to run entire marathon juggling 5 balls”https://t.co/2JQ4QHRLaH— Michal Kapral (@mkapral) October 26, 2017
As joggler Bob Evans said to me on Facebook after the race, "There is no story without conflict. Your 5-ball marathon quest just got a lot more compelling. Keep going!" In this case, I battled the record, and the record won. This was captured perfectly in this screenshot of race video of me looking like a dejected gorilla.
Joggler out, but not down.
Monday, September 25, 2017
NEWS RELEASE: High Five! Juggling Runner Michal Kapral to Attempt 5-Ball Joggling Marathon Guinness World Record in Toronto
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
High Five! Champion
Juggling Runner Michal Kapral to Attempt 5-Ball ‘Joggling’ Marathon Guinness
World Record in Toronto
Kapral to race
Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon juggling 5 beanbags – and chewing gum
– to raise funds for SickKids Foundation
TORONTO – Ten years after smashing the current Guinness World Record
for fastest marathon while juggling three objects in 2 hours 50 minutes,
Toronto’s Michal “The Joggler” Kapral plans to run and juggle his way to a new
record, this time keeping five beanbags in the air every
step of the 2017 Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon on October 22.
Kapral,
45, a writer at Health Quality Ontario in Toronto, has completed eight three-ball
marathons while “joggling” – the sport that combines running (or jogging) and
juggling – including the 2016 Chicago Marathon, which he finished without
dropping a ball once in 2 hours 55 minutes.
 |
| Michal Kapral works on his five-ball joggling at the Toronto Beach |
This will
be Kapral’s first attempt at a five-ball joggling marathon, and the first time
anyone has officially tried to set the Guinness World Record for running an entire 42.2km race while juggling five
balls. The only other reported complete five-ball joggling marathon was by the late Billy
Gillen of Brooklyn, N.Y., who was rumoured to have joggled the entire 1988 New York City
Marathon in 7 hours 7 minutes. Barry Goldmeier of Rockville, Maryland has also joggled five beanbags during marathons, but doesn't juggle the entire way.
Guinness World
Records has set a time of 4 hours 40 minutes to establish an official record. An
adjudicator will be at the race to verify the record attempt on the spot. Kapral
will aim for the 4:40 mark, but has a secondary goal of surpassing Gillen's reported time of
7:07.
“This is
by far the most difficult world record I’ve ever attempted,” says Kapral, who
also holds Guinness World Records for the fastest half-marathon (1:20:40) and 10K (36:27) while
juggling three objects, and previously held the record for fastest marathon
pushing a stroller. “Juggling five balls standing still is about 10 times
harder than three. Keeping that five-ball pattern flying in the air while
running a marathon is just completely nuts. It feels like you’re running two
marathons at once – one with your arms and one with your legs.”
Kapral
expects to stop or drop several hundred times during the marathon, and has
enlisted American joggling rival and friend Zach Warren to run behind him (without
juggling) to act as a spotter, and to ensure the safety of the other runners. Despite
having to look up at an angle, Kapral is able to see ahead of him while running
and juggling with five beanbags. Guinness World Records rules stipulate that if
Kapral drops a ball, he must return behind the drop point before restarting. He
can stop at aid stations to drink or eat, but must be juggling every step of the way forward.
As he did
while setting the 2007 world record while joggling three balls, Kapral will
chew gum during the entire five-ball joggling marathon. “People always ask me, ‘Can
you also chew gum while you do that?’” Kapral says. “The answer is yes! I’ll be chewing Stride gum
the whole way!”
Kapral is
raising donations for SickKids Foundation as part of the record attempt, to
support patient care, research and equipment at The Hospital for Sick Children
in Toronto, where Kapral received treatment for severe asthma as a child, and where he and his wife Dianne's daughter Annika received care for a heart condition when she was born. Secure donations can be made through this link: https://www.sickkidsdonations.com/registrant/FundraisingPage.aspx?registrationID=3952455&langPref=en-CA.
In another
world first, Kapral has likely become the first runner to secure an official
cinnamon bun sponsor. Rosen’s
Cinnamon Buns, founded by cookbook author Amy Rosen, has endorsed the marathon
record attempt.
“These
delectable treats fuelled some of my long training runs,” says Kapral, “so having
Rosen’s support for this record attempt is just the icing on the bun.”
Kapral
chronicles his joggling experiences on his blog, The Bloggling Joggler,
at http://www.thejoggler.blogspot.com.
-30-
For high-resolution images, or for more information,
please contact Michal Kapral at joggler1@gmail.com,
or @mkapral on Twitter.
Wednesday, August 16, 2017
A Non-Joggling Challenge: GoodLife Fitness City Chase Toronto
Running while juggling tests your fitness and your mind. The GoodLife Fitness City Chase does the same, and that's why I've had my eye on the urban adventure series for years. The events, which take place throughout the summer across Canada in Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa. Halifax and Toronto (two events), culminate in a national final with the best three teams from each of the city finals.
Dianne and I are teaming up to compete in the second Toronto event on August 19. It will feature a series of 10 challenges, and clues to find each of the challenge points. Participants are only allowed to navigate on foot or by public transit. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to do lots of running. They estimate 10k-20k of running and walking, depending on how much you take public transit. I don't plan to do any joggling during the race, unless of course there happens to be a challenge that involves running and juggling. The race has a 6-hour cutoff and the winners typically finish in just over 2 hours. Dianne and I recently returned from a week of back-country camping in Algonquin Park, so we're already in team adventure mode. Let's do this!
Teams that raise certain amounts of money for the event's charity partner, GoodLife Kids Foundation, which provides physical activity opportunities for children with autism, get special advantages, such as early access to clues.
Thanks to the good people at City Chase, you can get a $20 discount to the event through this blog. Just go to the registration page, and plug in the promo code: JOGGLER20.
Dianne and I are teaming up to compete in the second Toronto event on August 19. It will feature a series of 10 challenges, and clues to find each of the challenge points. Participants are only allowed to navigate on foot or by public transit. Hopefully, we'll get a chance to do lots of running. They estimate 10k-20k of running and walking, depending on how much you take public transit. I don't plan to do any joggling during the race, unless of course there happens to be a challenge that involves running and juggling. The race has a 6-hour cutoff and the winners typically finish in just over 2 hours. Dianne and I recently returned from a week of back-country camping in Algonquin Park, so we're already in team adventure mode. Let's do this!Teams that raise certain amounts of money for the event's charity partner, GoodLife Kids Foundation, which provides physical activity opportunities for children with autism, get special advantages, such as early access to clues.
Thanks to the good people at City Chase, you can get a $20 discount to the event through this blog. Just go to the registration page, and plug in the promo code: JOGGLER20.
 | |
| The as-yet-unnamed but super-awesome team! |
Friday, February 17, 2017
Blogiversary: 10 Years of Blogging About Joggling
Most people can't believe that joggling is a real thing that people do. Well, can you believe that I have been writing this blog about joggling for 10 years? Ten years! Exactly a decade ago, I launched The Bloggling Joggler with this post, saying:
Some highlights:
2007: Zach Warren and I faced off in a joggling duel at the Salt Lake City Marathon. We were featured in a CBC News documentary and the feature documentary, Breaking and Entering, by the amazing Benjamin Fingerhut.
2008: I chased after the joggling 5000m world record, falling just a few seconds short. I joggled the Cayman Islands Half-Marathon. I became, I think, the first person to joggle in the Northwest Territories, joggling the first few hundred metres of the Rock and Ice Ultra 135km race near Yellowknife.
2009: I appeared on MTV Canada, joggling onto the stage to the Rocky theme song. I joggled the World's Best 10K in Puerto Rico. I set the half-marathon joggling record of 1:24 in Montreal.
2010: The film Breaking and Entering released to rave reviews from Variety and New York Times.
2011: Tried to break the 5000m joggling Guinness World Record of 16:55 again, and missed out again by about 10 seconds. This is a tough one.
2012: Joggled the Chilly Half-Marathon in Burlington with a GoPro on my head. In October, I became the first person to win a marathon while juggling, joggling a 2:59 at the Trapline Marathon in Labrador. Beautiful race course.
2013: I made two attempts at the world record for the joggling 800m (2:12:45) and missed out the first time after a drop and the second time finishing in 2:15.
2014: I set a new Guinness World Record for the joggling half-marathon at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront race, finishing in 1:20:40. I set the unofficial joggling beer mile world record. Late in 2014, I flew to Los Angeles for a three-day TV commercial shoot for Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott.
2015: I planned to run the New York City Marathon while juggling but my beanbags were deemed a security risk. The joggling marathon that wasn't made the New York Times, Runner's World and Canadian Running.
2016: Sponsored by Fairfield Inn and Suites, I ran the Chicago Marathon while juggling in 2:55:25, without dropping a ball. The story went massively viral and I spent the next few weeks doing interviews every day. Unreal. The video below, shot by Chicago photographer Wendy Alas, was viewed millions of times, on Good Morning America, ESPN, BBC and elsewhere. Earlier in the year, I joggled another beer mile in 8:48, making ESPN and TMZ.
2017: To be continued. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Has anyone out there been reading this thing for the full 10 years?
"Welcome to the drama, the pain, the heartaches, the headaches, the insanity and the joy that is joggling. This blog will track my journey as I attempt to reclaim the Guinness World Record for 'fastest marathon (26.2 miles) while juggling three objects,' and any future joggling feats."I never imagined the joggling hilarity that would ensue for the next 10 years.
Some highlights:
2007: Zach Warren and I faced off in a joggling duel at the Salt Lake City Marathon. We were featured in a CBC News documentary and the feature documentary, Breaking and Entering, by the amazing Benjamin Fingerhut.
2008: I chased after the joggling 5000m world record, falling just a few seconds short. I joggled the Cayman Islands Half-Marathon. I became, I think, the first person to joggle in the Northwest Territories, joggling the first few hundred metres of the Rock and Ice Ultra 135km race near Yellowknife.
2009: I appeared on MTV Canada, joggling onto the stage to the Rocky theme song. I joggled the World's Best 10K in Puerto Rico. I set the half-marathon joggling record of 1:24 in Montreal.
2010: The film Breaking and Entering released to rave reviews from Variety and New York Times.
2011: Tried to break the 5000m joggling Guinness World Record of 16:55 again, and missed out again by about 10 seconds. This is a tough one.
2012: Joggled the Chilly Half-Marathon in Burlington with a GoPro on my head. In October, I became the first person to win a marathon while juggling, joggling a 2:59 at the Trapline Marathon in Labrador. Beautiful race course.
 |
| Joggling the Chilly Half-Marathon in Burlington, Ont. |
2013: I made two attempts at the world record for the joggling 800m (2:12:45) and missed out the first time after a drop and the second time finishing in 2:15.
2014: I set a new Guinness World Record for the joggling half-marathon at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront race, finishing in 1:20:40. I set the unofficial joggling beer mile world record. Late in 2014, I flew to Los Angeles for a three-day TV commercial shoot for Fairfield Inn & Suites by Marriott.
 |
| On my way to the Guinness World Record of 1:20:40 for fastest joggling half-marathon at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront race. Photo: John Chou |
2015: I planned to run the New York City Marathon while juggling but my beanbags were deemed a security risk. The joggling marathon that wasn't made the New York Times, Runner's World and Canadian Running.
2016: Sponsored by Fairfield Inn and Suites, I ran the Chicago Marathon while juggling in 2:55:25, without dropping a ball. The story went massively viral and I spent the next few weeks doing interviews every day. Unreal. The video below, shot by Chicago photographer Wendy Alas, was viewed millions of times, on Good Morning America, ESPN, BBC and elsewhere. Earlier in the year, I joggled another beer mile in 8:48, making ESPN and TMZ.
2017: To be continued. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Has anyone out there been reading this thing for the full 10 years?
 |
| Joggling the 2016 Chicago Marathon in 2:55:25 without dropping a ball. Photo: Colin B Photography |
Thursday, December 22, 2016
My Year in Joggling 2016
It was an epic joggling year. Here are a few highlights from 2016. Lots more in the works for next year.
Thursday, December 8, 2016
Joggling Commute: Running While Juggling Through Downtown Toronto
To train for the Chicago Marathon joggle this year, I ran home from work almost every day while joggling. The route is about 8km and slices straight through the heart of downtown Toronto along the very busy Bloor St. starting at University. I joggle east across the Bloor St. Viaduct and then along Danforth Ave. through Greektown, and into East York.
I usually get a lot of funny comments and odd stares, but of course on the day I hooked up the GoPro, I didn't capture any good reactions.
As you can see from the video, there's a lot of zigzagging. I always do a variety of tricks during my commute joggle, tossing beanbags against walls, street signs and over hydro wires. All the trick shots, plus dodging and weaving through the crowds of busy Torontontians, really helped me stayed focused during the distractions in Chicago.
I usually get a lot of funny comments and odd stares, but of course on the day I hooked up the GoPro, I didn't capture any good reactions.
As you can see from the video, there's a lot of zigzagging. I always do a variety of tricks during my commute joggle, tossing beanbags against walls, street signs and over hydro wires. All the trick shots, plus dodging and weaving through the crowds of busy Torontontians, really helped me stayed focused during the distractions in Chicago.
Thursday, November 10, 2016
VIDEO: Life Is a Joggling Act
I made this video. There's some joggling and some plain old juggling in it. Hope you like it.
Thursday, November 3, 2016
Quick Summary: No-Drop Sub-3 Chicago Marathon Joggling Coverage
The numbers are in. Here's a quick media campaign recap of the sub-3-hour no-drop Chicago Marathon juggling-running story:
Total media impressions: 6.2 squillion*
Social media shares: 3.7 kajillion
Video views: 3.3 umptillion
*Sponsorship inquiries for 2017 can be sent to joggler1@gmail.com. You won't regret it.
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Some of the media coverage so far:
NPR, BBC World Service, Good Morning America, Twitter Moments, BuzzFeed, Forbes, Yahoo, Apple News, ESPN SportsCenter, UPI News, Storyful, Newser, Runner's World, Canadian Running, International Business Times, LetsRun.com, O2 Magazine, 444.hu, NowThis, iHeart Radio, Allinteresting.com, L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, Herald Sun, PBS, and many many other foreign-language sites (the Google translations of these made me laugh to the point of tears – future post about this?).
I know you're not supposed to read the comments, but I couldn't resist looking at some of the feedback from the Facebook posts. The NPR story alone had something like 10,000 comments. A lot of people apparently thought it was an Onion article. Many others asked if I could chew gum while doing it (YES). My favourite comments of all were the few that said "No one cares," referring to an article that has 20,000 likes and 6,000 shares. Of all the possible criticisms of a guy running a marathon juggling, this one literally disproves itself. It's like that John Waite song, "Missing You." He's singing "I ain't missing you at all" but you know he really is.
One of the biggest thrills that will be hard to top was making ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays. Yeah, I was only No. 8, but I'm not in the NBA, MLB or NFL, so until there's a successful National Joggling League (NJL), I won't crack the top 3.
Total media impressions: 6.2 squillion*
Social media shares: 3.7 kajillion
Video views: 3.3 umptillion
*Sponsorship inquiries for 2017 can be sent to joggler1@gmail.com. You won't regret it.
 |
| Joggling the 2016 Chicago Marathon (Photo: Colin Boyle) |
Some of the media coverage so far:
NPR, BBC World Service, Good Morning America, Twitter Moments, BuzzFeed, Forbes, Yahoo, Apple News, ESPN SportsCenter, UPI News, Storyful, Newser, Runner's World, Canadian Running, International Business Times, LetsRun.com, O2 Magazine, 444.hu, NowThis, iHeart Radio, Allinteresting.com, L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, Herald Sun, PBS, and many many other foreign-language sites (the Google translations of these made me laugh to the point of tears – future post about this?).
I know you're not supposed to read the comments, but I couldn't resist looking at some of the feedback from the Facebook posts. The NPR story alone had something like 10,000 comments. A lot of people apparently thought it was an Onion article. Many others asked if I could chew gum while doing it (YES). My favourite comments of all were the few that said "No one cares," referring to an article that has 20,000 likes and 6,000 shares. Of all the possible criticisms of a guy running a marathon juggling, this one literally disproves itself. It's like that John Waite song, "Missing You." He's singing "I ain't missing you at all" but you know he really is.
One of the biggest thrills that will be hard to top was making ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays. Yeah, I was only No. 8, but I'm not in the NBA, MLB or NFL, so until there's a successful National Joggling League (NJL), I won't crack the top 3.
Friday, October 28, 2016
Joggling Video on BBC World Service Sportshour
I did an interview with BBC World Service Sportshour last week. Today they posted this cool VIDEO segment with some voice-over from the interview.
It's true – joggling is "mesmerizing" at the start of a marathon and "pure hell" at the end!
It's true – joggling is "mesmerizing" at the start of a marathon and "pure hell" at the end!
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
Without a Drop: Joggling the Chicago Marathon
At the halfway point of the 2016 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, my joggling world record of 2:50:12 was still within my grasp. I glanced over at the clock to see 1:25:24, making sure to keep the tosses and catches in a perfect three-ball cascade. It would be possible run a slight negative split for a sub-2:50, but I could already feel an ache in my legs that I knew would turn into agony in the final miles.
The night before the race, my wife Dianne and I heard Meb Keflezighi speak at the marathon expo. He had a lot of motivating things to say, but I remembered one thing he said about backing off slightly to avoid a massive bonk in the last three miles. I've run 33 marathons and have a good idea what my limits are and I felt I was on course for a crash. I decided to follow Meb's advice and edge off my pace slightly to focus on not falling apart. Finishing a marathon is hard enough. Trying to maintain a 6:29-per-mile pace while juggling is quite another.
There were other more welcome distractions. Right from the start, the spectators went absolutely berserk as I joggled past. Because of this, I had a huge grin plastered on my face. Sometimes I laughed out loud. There were cries of "There's the juggler!" and "Go juggling guy!" But by far the most common refrain was: "It's the guy from the commercial!" or "Go Fairfield guy!" I literally heard this every 10 or 20 seconds throughout the marathon. Fairfield Inn and Suites had sponsored me to joggle Chicago and I was keen to prove that the "fastest marathon juggler" - as I'm billed in the campaign - was a real person, and that joggling was a real thing.
My main goal was break my 2:50 record, but I had a somewhat secret secondary goal of joggling a marathon without a drop in under 3 hours. I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself to pull off the feat since it's far too easy to let it slip between your fingertips, especially with the crowds and distractions of a major marathon like Chicago. But when I joggled past 30K still without a drop and still on sub-3-hour pace, I knew I had a shot at my decade-long dream of a drop-less sub-3.
At 23 miles, my arms began to hurt badly. I use lightweight joggling beanbags for racing (extra-small size Sportballs by Sport Juggling Company), but after about 45,000 tosses and catches of a 50,000-toss race, the pain kicks in regardless of beanbag weight. My legs were not functioning very well, either. The cardio felt great but I was entering survival mode, just focusing on every stride, every toss, every catch, and every breath. "In the pocket," I told myself over and over, referring to the perfect landing spot for every throw - just in front of the hip, exactly where the open palm of my hand ends up at the front of the arm swing during my running stride.
With 400 metres to go, I flew into an absolute panic that I would drop near the finish, as I did when I set the world record in Toronto in 2007. Normally, I look through the balls and just trust my peripheral vision to catch them, but with so much up in the air, I decided to stare at every toss. I told myself repeated, "You cannot drop. There is nothing in the world more important than not dropping a ball right now." It worked. I did manage to smile in the final stretch and crossed the line smiling, elated and drop-less. I yelled a huge "YES!" raising the three beanbags in a triumphal arch above my head. "I can't believe I just did that," I said out loud, to no one.
It was a 2:55:25 and the fastest joggling marathon ever completed without a drop. Against all odds, the dream had come true.
The night before the race, my wife Dianne and I heard Meb Keflezighi speak at the marathon expo. He had a lot of motivating things to say, but I remembered one thing he said about backing off slightly to avoid a massive bonk in the last three miles. I've run 33 marathons and have a good idea what my limits are and I felt I was on course for a crash. I decided to follow Meb's advice and edge off my pace slightly to focus on not falling apart. Finishing a marathon is hard enough. Trying to maintain a 6:29-per-mile pace while juggling is quite another.
Even though the pace was a little too hot, I felt ecstatic about the first half of the marathon. Joggling a big marathon is always nerve-racking at the start. You're jammed in a big crowd of anxious runners. There's excitement, nerves and usually lots of jostling. And jostling is a joggler's enemy. But I managed to get off to a clean start, running off to the right side of the road. The first mile cruised by with no drops, despite a badly watering left eye that not only caused blurred vision but also double and distorted vision - also a joggler's enemy. I didn't want to stop and wipe my eye since it was still quite crowded, so I just pressed on, trying to blink out a tear to clear it up. The blur continued for miles, and was soon compounded by a torturous itch under my nose. The inability to scratch an itch or wipe an eye is one of the overlooked challenges of marathon joggling. My joggling rival Zach Warren said he once ran the final eight miles of a joggling marathon with a bug in his eye.@mkapral is facing his toughest competition: himself. Can he break his world joggling record? #StayAmazing pic.twitter.com/z3zgS8NOjB— Fairfield Inn&Suites (@FairfieldHotels) October 6, 2016
There were other more welcome distractions. Right from the start, the spectators went absolutely berserk as I joggled past. Because of this, I had a huge grin plastered on my face. Sometimes I laughed out loud. There were cries of "There's the juggler!" and "Go juggling guy!" But by far the most common refrain was: "It's the guy from the commercial!" or "Go Fairfield guy!" I literally heard this every 10 or 20 seconds throughout the marathon. Fairfield Inn and Suites had sponsored me to joggle Chicago and I was keen to prove that the "fastest marathon juggler" - as I'm billed in the campaign - was a real person, and that joggling was a real thing.
My main goal was break my 2:50 record, but I had a somewhat secret secondary goal of joggling a marathon without a drop in under 3 hours. I didn't want to put too much pressure on myself to pull off the feat since it's far too easy to let it slip between your fingertips, especially with the crowds and distractions of a major marathon like Chicago. But when I joggled past 30K still without a drop and still on sub-3-hour pace, I knew I had a shot at my decade-long dream of a drop-less sub-3.
Along the way, I stopped maybe six times to refuel at the aid stations. As long as I come to a complete stop, the official joggling rules allow you to stop juggling as you eat or drink - you just need to be juggling every step of the way forward for the entire 26.2 miles. I drank two cups of Gatorade with each stop and one time ate a gel with two cups of water. I also stopped twice to wipe my watery eyes. I have allergies, so my eyes tend to water a lot. Just my luck.VIDEO by @wendyalas: Running the #ChicagoMarathon while juggling in 2:55 without a drop. Here are 10 catches out of 50,000+ #joggling pic.twitter.com/9W6ypaXouv— Michal Kapral (@mkapral) October 11, 2016
At 23 miles, my arms began to hurt badly. I use lightweight joggling beanbags for racing (extra-small size Sportballs by Sport Juggling Company), but after about 45,000 tosses and catches of a 50,000-toss race, the pain kicks in regardless of beanbag weight. My legs were not functioning very well, either. The cardio felt great but I was entering survival mode, just focusing on every stride, every toss, every catch, and every breath. "In the pocket," I told myself over and over, referring to the perfect landing spot for every throw - just in front of the hip, exactly where the open palm of my hand ends up at the front of the arm swing during my running stride.
A few gusts of wind nearly derailed my no-drop goal. Once I caught an errant ball between thumb for forefinger, mere millimetres off a sure drop. Another time a wind gust blew my pattern out of whack and I joggled wildly for five or six strides trying to get the juggling cascade re-synced with my running. Somehow, I held it together.Eyes on the no-drop joggling marathon prize. #ChicagoMarathon #juggling #dontdroptheball pic.twitter.com/kgUgThKbbS— Michal Kapral (@mkapral) October 10, 2016
With 400 metres to go, I flew into an absolute panic that I would drop near the finish, as I did when I set the world record in Toronto in 2007. Normally, I look through the balls and just trust my peripheral vision to catch them, but with so much up in the air, I decided to stare at every toss. I told myself repeated, "You cannot drop. There is nothing in the world more important than not dropping a ball right now." It worked. I did manage to smile in the final stretch and crossed the line smiling, elated and drop-less. I yelled a huge "YES!" raising the three beanbags in a triumphal arch above my head. "I can't believe I just did that," I said out loud, to no one.
It was a 2:55:25 and the fastest joggling marathon ever completed without a drop. Against all odds, the dream had come true.
Guy runs Chicago Marathon in 2:55, never once dropping the balls he was juggling. https://t.co/ZFv0UiJJdR pic.twitter.com/ACLLD67cJ8— Runner's World (@runnersworld) October 9, 2016
@mkapral Congrats on your new personal record for #ChicagoMarathon no-drop joggling! pic.twitter.com/KUeRoBj7fN— Bank of America (@BankofAmerica) October 9, 2016
Thursday, September 29, 2016
'Marathon Juggler' Going for Joggling World Record at 2016 Chicago Marathon
NEWS RELEASE!
Going for the Joggler: Running-While-Juggling
Champ Aims for ‘Joggling’ World Record in Chicago Marathon
TORONTO – SEPTEMBER
29, 2016 – Michal “The Joggler” Kapral of Toronto, Canada, will toss and
catch his way through all 26.2 miles of the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on
Sunday, October 9, in a bid to break his own record of 2 hours 50 minutes and 12 seconds for the fastest marathon
while juggling three objects.
Kapral, 44, took up the niche sport of “joggling” (jogging
while juggling) in 2005, when he first set the Guinness World Record for the
joggling marathon in Toronto as a stunt to raise money for charity. He quickly
became addicted to the harmony between the cascade juggling pattern and the
running stride, and spent the next three years in a back-and-forth battle for
marathon joggling title with American rival Zach Warren. Kapral eventually set
the current mark at the Scotiabank Toronto Waterfront Marathon in 2007.
Kapral’s joggling feats recently earned him a role as
himself, billed as the “fastest marathon juggler,” in the currently running national
TV commercial for Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriott. Fairfield is sponsoring
Kapral’s Chicago record attempt to support the hotel chain’s #StayAmazing
campaign.
“A lot of people who saw the commercial just can’t believe
that running a marathon while juggling is a real thing, or that there is any
competition,” Kapral says. “I look forward to showcasing this weird and awesome
sport in Chicago – and hopefully setting a world record as well.”
To break his 2007 record, Kapral will have to run every step
of the 26.2-mile race while simultaneously juggling three beanbags every step
of the way at a pace of under 6 minutes and 30 seconds per mile, or more than
eight consecutive 20-minute 5Ks. The race will involve more than 50,000 tosses
and catches. If Kapral drops a ball, the official rules say he must return to
behind the drop point before continuing. He also needs to come to a complete
stop to drink water or Gatorade, so that he juggles every step forward.
“I’ve done a bunch of drop-free long training runs, so I’m
ready to joggle up a storm in one of the world’s greatest marathons,” Kapral
says. “But my main goal is to get people smiling and maybe inspire them to look
at the world in a different way and do something out of the ordinary.”
A father of two daughters, and a writer for a government health
agency in Toronto, Kapral calls joggling “the perfect metaphor for life.” To
push the multitasking up another notch, Kapral also plans to chew gum
throughout the joggling marathon in Chicago.
To other marathon runners who might be peeved that he is
running while juggling at or faster than their pace, Kapral says: “Don’t worry,
I’m probably hurting more than you are. In the last miles of a joggling
marathon, I often think to myself, ‘How can something so silly be so painful?’”
Kapral won’t be the only joggler in Chicago. Local joggling
veteran Perry Romanowski also plans to take part in the race.
Chicago will be Kapral’s eighth joggling marathon and his 33rd marathon in total. He has a non-juggling marathon best time of 2 hours 30 minutes and 40 seconds, when he won the Toronto Marathon in 2002. He also holds the Guinness World Record for fastest joggling half-marathon in 1 hour 20 minutes and 40 seconds, set in 2014, and the fasting joggling 10K in 36 minutes and 27 seconds, from 2008. In 2004, Kapral set his first Guinness World Record, for fastest marathon pushing a stroller, in 2 hours 49 minutes and 47 seconds, with his then one-year-old daughter Annika in tow.
Kapral chronicles his joggling experiences on his blog, The
Bloggling Joggler, at http://www.thejoggler.blogspot.com.
-30-
For more information,
high-resolution images, or to book an interview, contact Michal Kapral:
Email: joggler1@gmail.com
Monday, September 26, 2016
Running and Juggling on Vacation
A lot of us lead busy lives and spend our days running around juggling our demands. Sometimes we need to an escape to get away from it all. But when I'm on vacation, I just keep running and juggling. This past winter, we took a rare getaway to Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic. It was -34 C in Toronto when our plane took off and +30 in the DR when we arrived. Perfect weather for beach joggling.
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