My World Record

In his new book, getting into Guinness, Vermonter Larry Olmsted, 42, talks about how he made the cut and why we continue to obsess over the world?s longest fingernails.

(Photograph by Peter Urban) Larry Olmstead

Why do you think folks devote so much time and energy to get their names in the Guinness World Records?

It's a direct off shoot of our society's ever-increasing preoccupation with fame and celebrity. It's a way for a person who is never going to be on MTV or have their own sitcom to get into the public eye. The long fingernails are quirky, but it's something you or I could do if we put our mind to it.

I see that you had two record-setting attempts.

The first one I did when I was on assignment for Golf Magazine, to see if I could join the famous golfers who were already in there. It was a tongue-and-cheek sort of thing.

What was the record?

The greatest distance traveled between two rounds of golf played in the same day - 7,496 miles.

So you played a round in Sydney, Australia, and then flew to Newport Beach, California, for the second. Later, you played the longest poker game ever, at Foxwoods.

Yup: 72 hours and 2 minutes.

Sounds painful.

After the first (record), my friends were all saying, "What's next?" So I did it for no other reason than the continued rush of being in Guinness. It was physically exhausting. It's really hard to stay awake for 72-plus hours, especially when you're doing something that requires you to be focused. My golf record was quickly broken. Four years later, nobody has touched the poker record.

Did you lose money at the end of the poker session?

Surprisingly, I was up a little over a thousand dollars. Most of that cash I gave away as tips. The cocktail waitresses for those three days were my lifeline to coffee, water, and food. So I was very generous.

I read in your book that New Yorker Ashrita Furman has broken over 200 records, including skipping his way through a marathon, climbing Mount Fuji on a pogo stick, and somersaulting Paul Revere's entire midnight ride (a 12-mile route that Furman completed in 10 and a half hours). What drives him to such lunacy?

It's his faith that allows him to be so mentally tough and complete things that, however wacky, we would have given up long before he does. Other people listen to an iPod when they run marathons. He meditates and does some mantras.

I'm not nearly as fanatical as Ashrita Furman, but I'd still like my 15 minutes of fame. Which record should I try to break?

It really depends on your skill. If you have a lot of patience and stamina, you could try to break the record for standing on one leg. If you have aerobic endurance, you could try and break spinning on a stationary bike.

Well, I have a distinct talent for jumping jacks. I think the number I need to top is 33,000.

Good luck with that.