The annual extreme pogo world championship this past weekend went off without a hitch; the introduction of a new “World Record” day on which Guinness World Records™ are sent bouncing to all new levels had quite the turnout as well.
Showcased at the Orange County Fair in Costa Mesa, California, the team at Xpogo pulled off another exciting three-day spectacle for the enjoyment of all attendees. On the first afternoon, my fellow pogoers brought their “A game” because out of six various record-breaking attempts, all but one were broken.
That’s just how we roll…err…bounce 
Pogo History Rewritten
Tone Staubs initiated the obliteration of the pogo record books by gaining control of the “Most Consecutive Bounces in a Minute” world record. Previously set at 256, Staubs impressively jack-hammered 257 bounces within the 60 second timeframe; a rate of ~4.3 bounces per second.
The domination continued with Fred Gryzbowski and Jake Gartland beating their own previously held records; “Most Consecutive Backflips” and “Most Consecutive Frontflips” respectively. Fred feverishly spiraled backwards a total of 11 times while Jake managed to forcefully tumble an additional time bumping his record to 5; both are awe-inspiring records.
Even a never-before-attempted world record was set on this day with contestants setting the bar for “Most Consecutive No-Footed Jumps.” Fred Gryzbowski added another notch to his belt (like a boss) by claiming this record as well with a jaw-dropping 95 bounces.
Oh and we’d be remiss if we failed to recognize Biff Hutchison for still maintaining his previous record for “Least Jumps on a Pogo Stick in One Minute.” Numerous pogo champions attempted this seemingly easy, yet extremely physically demanding, record only to fall short by a couple of bounces.
Biff remains the reigning champion with a total of 39 bounces.
No Pogo Records Were Safe
Even the marathon-esque world record for “Most Consecutive Bounces on a Pogo Stick” was attempted and broken. To give a little weight to this feat, Gary Stewart, with a total of 177,737 bounces, remained champion since 1992 for a total of 15 years.
A series of attempts had been made to conquer that record; however, most fell short. In 2007, James Roumeliotis attempted and broke Gary’s 15-year record with a count of 186,152 bounces, yet even as impressive as that may be, James had unfinished business.
James had his sight on the 200k bounce mark. The summer of 2011 proved to be his summer and Pogopalooza 8 was the venue for his 200,000+ bounce achievement.
With the crosshairs set on the 200,000 bounce mark and the promise to raise awareness and support for the Scleroderma Foundation, James began his trek at 1:30PM Thursday, July 28th. After nearly 21 hours and smashing through two mental barriers over the night (convincing him to give up), James re-broke his world record with a surreal total of 206,864.
The 200K barrier was finally broken, a rest was well-deserved, and James did what he does after any big accomplishment: he grabbed some fast food tacos.
The world record day was a huge success at Pogopalooza 8 this year and should be a returning theme for years to come. More information about Pogopalooza, extreme pogoing, and the competitions themselves can be found at www.xpogo.com.
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