A record breaker by trade

Photo: JASON OXENHAM

SMASHING RECORDS: Alastair Galpin is one of the most prolific Guinness World Record breakers and will add to his tally at the Trusts Stadium this Saturday.

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Licking 57 stamps in one minute or wearing 62 rubber bands on your head isn’t everybody’s idea of fun - but serial world record breaker Alastair Galpin has done both and has the paperwork to prove it.

The 35-year-old New Zealander is the second biggest Guinness World Record breaker of the decade.

He will try to add a few more titles to his ever-growing haul when he takes part in the Impossibility-Challenger at Henderson’s Trusts Stadium in Auckland on Saturday from 9am to 4pm.

It is the first time such an event has been held in New Zealand and the aim is for entrants to break as many Guinness records as they can in one day.

Those attending include Switzerland’s Albert Walter who can rip phone books apart faster than anyone else on the globe.

But anybody is welcome to have a crack at whatever weird and wonderful record takes their fancy.

Previous efforts include the fastest mile on stilts, the most hours playing the cello and the world record for continuous laughter.

Galpin won’t reveal exactly what he has planned, but spectators will be in for quite a show if his record-breaking past is anything to go by.

He has, for example, pulled on 20 underpants in one minute, hugged 624 people in an hour, worn 74 socks and spent more than nine hours shaking someone’s hand.

His record attempts tend to be silly rather than dangerous but Galpin has also successfully tackled more physically demanding tasks.

Several weeks spent hanging on the end of a crane in a portable toilet is the toughest thing he has ever done.

"I was in there for 21 days," he says. "From a psychological point of view it definitely had a bit of an effect. I think if you packed up anyone in a little toilet for three weeks they’d come out a little different."

Galpin does not just do it to get his name in the history books.

His goal is to use his record-breaking abilities to create awareness about causes close to his heart.

"Now that we’ve built up a bit of a profile, my objective is to use these things to draw attention to conservation issues in the Third World.

"I was thinking small when I started and just did little things locally. I could hardly walk up to the BBC or National Geographic and say: ‘I’ve never broken a record but I want to promote climate change.’ But we’re starting to get that interest now."

Galpin plans to keep pushing the limits of his body until it fails to respond.

"I still hope to be breaking records when I’m all knobbly-kneed, highly-whiskered and can hardly walk any more.

"It’s best to die doing something you love."

- © Fairfax NZ News