Hugging His Way To A World Record
Posted by admin in General
People love to hug, and be hugged, which is a natural instinct. Not many would have given the world record a thought, especially when it comes to hugging. However, Jeff Ondash, from Ohio, managed to enter the world record books by hugging 7,777 people over a 24 hour period in Las Vegas at the Paris hotel-casino in Las Vegas. According to Ondash, anyone you hug walks away with a smile, which is fun but also means more wrinkles results Botox. Heart Month, hosted by the American Heart Association is what prompted Ondash to set his ‘heart’ on becoming the world’s hugging champion. His aim was raising money to donate to the organisation. This cause was very dear to him since his brother and father died of heart disease at a young age.
The 51-year old went about his feat under the pseudonym Teddy McHuggin, all dressed up in a driver’s suit, similar to what is seen on NASCAR drivers, with a number of hugging logos on it and a championship belt reminiscent of a wrestling belt. Ondash’s daughter, Carlie, stood behind with a manual counter as he began his quest at the world record. According to Ondash, breaking the record didn’t mean much. However, it was the cause that provided the motivation. No one has attempted this unique feat before.
Guinness World Records already has Ondash on board with the distinction of 1,205 hugs on one hour. Irishman, Siobhan O’Connor, of Dublin, previously held the Guinness record for hugs in a day which stands at 5,000. Ondash needed to break the record by hugging at least 208 people in an hour, which he managed to beat by hugging over 700 in the first sixty minutes. Although Ondash was tired from not eating and being on his toes all of Friday night through to Saturday, he never gave up and continued to embrace all kinds of people.
Surprisingly, he didn’t plan to rest Saturday night and chose to go out and have some fun. There was no judge from Guinness World Records present, and the event was monitored by judges who were independent and who worked in shifts. However, they have submitted their affidavits to Guinness, while Ondash will have to wait for several weeks for his certification. Ondash doesn’t want to stop here. He has set his eyes on the longest single hug in the world ever, which he will have to continue for over 24 hours and one second, the current record.
In other happy news: Ski chalet holidays booking sorted all of you, I am stoked about our annual trip. This weekend is the deadline for the overall cost, please get it to me as soon as you can.