Impossibility Challenger 2010: 4 Guinness World Records and 11 World Records Set

Yoga is healthy and relaxing. But doing 41 yoga asanas and stretching exercises in 5 minutes 19 seconds and 31 poses in 4 minutes 5 seconds balancing on a BMX Bike without touching the ground is a challenge. Khiv Raj Gurjar came from Jodhpur in India all the way to Germany and set these world records in Dachau near Munich. The 58-year-old, who studied yoga since the age of 13, balanced also for 11 minutes 18 seconds on a BMX Bike without contact with the ground. His three world records were part of the 17th “Impossibility Challenger” organised by the Sri Chinmoy Centres. This weekend 11 participants from 7 countries set 4 Guinness World Records, 11 world records and 4 personal records on the grounds of the sports club ASV.

Axes are good for felling trees or mauling wood. But did you ever think that they are good for juggling? By juggling with 3 axes 53 times 51-year-old Milan Roskopf from Bratislava (Slovakia) improved his old world record by 18 times. Jennifer Anavi Davis from Canada entertained the ears of her listeners and witnesses as she set a new Guinness World Record with her whistling marathon. The 36-year-old Canadian whistled songs of Sri Chinmoy, the founder of the Impossibility Challenger, for 24 hours. Indian born Sri Chinmoy composed over 21,000 songs during his lifetime. In 1995, with thousands fewer compositions, India’s renowned Limca Book of Records listed Sri Chinmoy as the world’s most prolific song composer of all times. The 18-year-old German Christian Schaefer tore 36 regular size envelopes in 30 seconds (old record: 26), blew a stamp with his mouth over a 100 metre long course in 3 minutes and 4 seconds – 4 minutes and 25 seconds faster than his predecessor – and memorized 207 binary numbers (old record 132) in one minute. That makes an astonishing total of 3 entries in the Guinness Book of World Records for the North German Memory Champion of 2010. Ranjit Pal (48) from Phagwara in India set a world record in his age category with the most rope skips in one minute. He did more than 4 rope skips in one second – a total of unbelievable 276. Rainer Schroeder from Altenburg near Leipzig in Germany has a tough neck. The East-German set a world record by bending a 44 cm long and 1 cm thick bar of construction steel from straight to 39 degrees with bare hands at his neck. The 49-year-old broke also a 3 mm steel chain by stretching his body in 5 seconds. The steel chain was wound around his waist and on the other end fixed at a steel plate on which he stood. – a second world record for Schroeder.

The 17th Impossibility Challenger was organized by the Sri Chinmoy Centres. The peace visionary, composer and athlete Sri Chinmoy (1931 -2007) initiated the Impossibility Challenger in 1982 to inspire people to experience the joy which comes into existence, when one competes only with oneself to increase one’s own capacities and inspires therewith others. Sri Chinmoy himself set many weightlifting world records and transcended them with increasing age.

Impossibility Challenger 2009 – The Video of the World Records Games

Every year the “Impossibility Challenger” Games take place in Germany in the small village of Dachau near Munich. People from all over Europe participate. Some go for a personal record, others are setting Guinness or World Records. But they have one goal in common: they all get joy by participating and transcending themselves. The games are hosted by the Sri Chinmoy Centres who also organize several Self-Transcendence Ultra Sports Races like the 24-Hour Race in Basel, the Zurich Lake Marathon Swim or the 3100 Mile Race in Queens, NY. – Soundtrack by Parichayaka Hammerl.

Impossibilty Challenger 209: 16 World Records Set in Munich-Dachau

For sure we all have put on a pair of socks in a personal best time when we were in a hurry. Abhinabha Tangerman (31) of the Netherlands was in a hurry for 30 minutes and put on and off the record amount of 239 pairs of socks plus one singular sock. His record was part of the 15th “Impossibility Challenger” – World Record Games organised by the Sri Chinmoy Centre. This weekend in Dachau near Munich 17 participants from 9 countries tried to surmount the barrier of impossibility with 26 record attempts. 16 world records and 8 personal records have been set.

Rainer Schroeder from Altenburg near Leipzig in Germany has a tough mouth and strong teeth. The East German set a world record by bending a horse shoe for 7.2 cm with his teeth. The 48-year-old also kept a flaming torch in his mouth for 10.72 sec. without getting burnt – a second world record for Schroeder. By juggling with 2 motor saws and a 1 kg ball 62 times the Slovakian Milan Roskopf (50) improved his old world record of 35 throws. The passion of Peter Koppen (61) from Munich is the construction of paper so-called “microships“. Over 200,000 microships he built over the years. In the world record time of 22 min and 5 sec. he created 12 microships out of a piece of paper, the size of a stamp. The 37-year-old  sports student Stefan Cojocneandid the the fastest 100 m on stilts while jumping with a skipping rope at the same time in 21.38 sec. The former Romanian Kickbox Champion covered also the fastest 2 miles on stilts in 14 min 4 sec. Albert Walter (35) from Zurich loves telephone books. The Swiss Champion in bench press in 2004 set a world record by tearing apart ten 786 page thick Swiss telephone books in 3 min 43 sec, ” to symbolically destroy the world’s wars and hostilities”, as he said.

Journalist Dirk Rensmann, who filmed for RTL Explosive during the event, covered the fastest mile fully dressed with leathern, black motorcycle clothing and motorcycle helmet while carrying an egg on a spoon, in a time of 13 :15 min. Another specially dressed runner: Stefan Ehrenfellner from Salzburg, long-time Austrian ski teacher, ran his fastest mile in 7 min. 32 sec. with ski boots on and skis on his shoulders. In his second discipline the 31-year-old covered 3000 m only with ski boots on in 13 min. 49.13 sec. With 4 min. 2.9 sec. Ramon Abella Villa (25) from Barcelona improved the old world record time by 23 seconds for the fastest time to solve 10 tasks for adding ten 10-digit numbers without any error. Ramón Campayo (43) – also from Spain – improved 4 world records with his photographic memory. In 0.5 sec he memorized a 34-digit binary number, in 3 sec. a 64-digit binary number as well as 23 numbers in 2 sec. and 25 numbers in 3 seconds. Eckhard Schroeder from Bielefeld in Germany succeeded in reciting 1900 poems of Sri Chinmoy by heart in 24 hours, an amazing achievement that nobody has done until now. The 45-year-old banker improved his own world record by 900 poems. Some personal records: Adesh Widmer (54) from Zurich played on the sitar for 12 hours and 34-year-old Valishtha Upmane of Latvia recited 721 poems in 7 hours, after her helper has read them out, one by one. Austrian Birgit Alic (35) from Linz created 784 paintings with markers in 12 hours.

Indian born philosopher and athlete Sri Chinmoy (1931 -2007) initiated the Impossibility Challenger in 1982 to inspire people to experience the joy which comes into existence, when one competes only with oneself to increase one’s own capacities and inspires therewith others. Sri Chinmoy himself set many weightlifting world records and transcended them with increasing age.