Amazing Feats from Amazing Feet

Just for fun, we wanted to give you some creative ideas with how to occupy your time and your feet. This article will explore a few world records which have been set by feet, and might even give you ideas for something to do over your Christmas and New Year's break.

Five Amazing "Feets"
Your Feet Do More Than You Think

Terence Vanderheiden, D.P.M.

Most of us walk on our feet everyday and if they are not hurting, we rarely give them a second thought. Then there are others who ask themselves, "What else could I do with my feet today?" Those are the people you will find in the Guinness World Records. You too could be a record holder if you could balance on one foot for 3 days and 5 hours. If you have trouble balancing for 30 seconds, perhaps you should keep reading and find another amazing "feet" to try.

1. Largest Feet Ever. Robert Wadlow (USA) is credited with the largest feet ever (dead or living). He wore U.S. size 37AA shoes which is equivalent to 18.5 inches long. There is not a lot of practicing you can do to try and achieve this record. You are either born with it or you would need to have many painful surgeries to try and lengthen your feet.

2. Longest Duration for Balancing on One Foot. The longest recorded time for balancing on one foot is 76 hr 40 min by Arulanantham Suresh Joachim (Sri Lanka) at Vihara Maha Devi Park Open Air Stadium, Sri Lanka, on May 22-25, 1997. Start by balancing for 10 seconds (it's harder than you think) and then increase from there. Let me know when you get close to the record.

3. Longest Time Juggling a Shuttlecock with Feet. Li Huifeng (China) juggled a badminton shuttlecock for 4 hr 40 min non-stop using only her feet. The shuttlecock never touched the ground. This was accomplished on the Guinness World Records Special in Beijing, China on December 21, 2006. Isn't it enough challenge to keep the badminton shuttlecock from touching the ground using a racket?

4. Fastest Barefoot Ice Run. The fastest time to run 100 m barefoot on ice is 17.35 sec. The record was set by Nico Surings (Netherlands) at the Ijssportcentrum in Eindhoven, Netherlands on December 8, 2006. I do not think this will be a new event at the Winter Olympics anytime soon. When was the last time you tried running on ice?

5. Fastest Time to Place Six Eggs in Eggcups Using the Feet. Leslie Tipton (USA), a contortionist, transferred six eggs into six eggcups using only her feet. She did the transfer in 57 seconds. This feat was achieved on the set of Guinness World Records in Madrid, Spain on June 11, 2006. I suspect Leslie had to eat quite a few eggs leading up to her Guinness World Record.