Anyone who simply survived 2020 deserves a medal and a cookie (at the very least). That said, some people rose above the many challenges of 2020 to achieve incredible goals, especially in regards to fitness.
An Irish Family Broke 4 Guinness World Records for Charity
Breaking one Guinness World Record is impressive. But in 2020, one family from Kerry, Ireland crushed four of them — all in the spirit of giving back. To help support Irish humanitarian-aid agency, GOAL, and its Virtual Mile, the Hickson family accomplished several unique fitness challenges. According to the Irish Examiner, 40-year-old Sandra Hickson ran an 8:05 mile with 40 pounds on her back, while her partner, Nathan Missin, carried 60 pounds during a 6:54 mile and 100 pounds in a separate 7:29 mile. Missin also joined Sandra’s brother, Jason Hickson, in another family fitness feat that called for carrying a 50-kilogram (or 110-pound) person on a stretcher for one mile. The pair completed the challenge with a record-breaking 10:52 mile time. While the family waits for their accomplishments to be authenticated by the Guinness Book of Records, they told the Irish Examiner that they hope they’ll inspire people both abroad and at home to connect in similarly special ways and to support humanitarian relief efforts amid the global COVID-19 pandemic.
This Personal Trainer Completed a 48-Hour Fitness Challenge In Less Than 21 Hours
If simply reading the name “the Devil’s Double Challenge” makes you shudder, you’re not alone. The grueling 48-hour fitness challenge, hosted virtually this year by Gut Check Fitness, is a two-parter: In part one, participants attempt 25 miles of running, 3,000 abdominal crunches, 1,100 push-ups, 1,100 jumping jacks, and one mile of burpee leapfrogs (FYI: those are burpees with a long jump instead of a traditional vertical jump). In part two, participants tackle 25 miles of running, 200 overhead presses, 400 push-ups, 600 squats, and another mile of burpee leapfrogs — all with a 35-pound backpack.
Exhausted yet? Tammy Kovaluk, a trainer from Bend, Oregon, did all of this not in 48 hours, but in 20 hours and 51 minutes. In the process, she raised $2,300 for Harmony Farm Sanctuary, which offers a safe place for rescued farm animals to connect with humans. Kovaluk told local news outlet, The Bulletin, that the accomplishment was “perhaps the hardest thing” she’s ever done physically. “It also required all of my mental strength. I certainly got what I asked for, being stripped down to the core,” she said.
A Professional Contortionist Did 402 L-Seat Straddle Presses to Handstand
If you applaud yourself for mastering tree pose (go you!), you’ll be in disbelief about the gravity-defying record Stefanie Millinger crushed this year. Millinger, a professional contortionist from Austria, shattered the Guinness World Record for the most consecutive L-seat straddle presses to handstand — logging 402 in a row like it was NBD.
A Pro Rock Climber Became the First Woman to Free-Climb El Capitan In One Day
Throughout her rock climbing career, Emily Harrington had tried three separate times to free-climb El Capitan, a 3,000-foot mountain in Yosemite National Park. In 2019, she survived a 30-foot fall during her third attempt at conquering the monolith. Fast-forward to 2020, and Harrington became the first woman to successfully free-climb El Capitan in one day. “I never really set out with the intention of being successful, I just wanted to have an interesting goal and see how it went,” Harrington shared in a recent interview with Shape. “But one of the reasons I climb is to think very deeply about things like risk and the types of risks that I’m willing to take. And I think what I’ve realized over the years is that I’m a lot more capable than I think I am.”
