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Lead Stories: Friday, November 21, 2008

Chicago Man Breaks World Record For Juggling A 50-Mile Ultra Marathon

Posted November 2nd, 2007 at 3:06 PM by Adam Jacobs

Section: News & Results, Marathons, Trail / Ultra

Chicago’s very own “joggler” Perry Romanowski broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest 50-mile ultra marathon done while juggling with the incredible time of 8 hours, 23 minutes, and 52 seconds. While accomplishing this feat at the Chicago Lakefront 50/50 ultra marathon, he managed to finish the entire distance with only 4 drops.

The sport of joggling was first invented in the early 1980s. Participants are required to continuously juggle 3 balls while running every step of the race. Guinness World Records rules state that if the joggler drops a ball, he must return to the drop point before continuing. The previous record for joggling a 50 mile ultra marathon of 8:52:07 was set by Ashrita Furman in 1989. In the Lakefront 50/50, Romanowski came in 16th place overall despite joggling the entire race.

Romanowski, a 38-year-old scientist at Alberto Culver, has completed 23 joggling marathons but this was his first ultra marathon. “I wasn’t fast enough to break the world record for shorter distances, so I figured I would try the 50 miler,” said Romanowski. “If you can’t go faster, go longer.”

Note: Romanowski was interviewed on TheFinalSprint.com Podcast, the most listened to podcast in North America, back on February 7, 2007. Click here to listen to the interview on-demand at no charge!

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