FASTEST CIRCUMNAVIGATION ON FOOT
The following act as a guide to the specific considerations and undertakings, in addition to the
general requirements as detailed in the General Rules of the Record Breakers’ Pack, for any
potential attempt on the above record.
They should be read and understood by all concerned – organisers, participants and witnesses
– prior to the event.
Please note that, as detailed in the Agreement Regarding Record Attempts, these guidelines in
no way provide any kind of safety advice or can be construed as providing any comfort that the
record is free from risk.
GUIDELINES
1 - Start and finish points must be the same location.
2 - The participant may walk or run as he/she pleases.
3 - It is recommended that the traveller has the benefit of a support team. Note that no
distinction will be made between supported and unsupported journeys.
4 - The journey should be continual and in one direction i.e. East to West or West to
East. (See also 5.).
5 - The minimum distance walked/run should be 18,000 miles (28,970 km) and thetotal distance travelled by the participant should exceed an equator’s length, i.e.
more than 24,900 miles (40,075 km).
6 - When crossing oceans or any other impassable barriers the participant may use
scheduled public transport, such as buses, aircraft, ferries etc. However, private or
chartered transport (including taxis) is not permitted.
7 - The clock starts the moment the participant crosses the starting line and does not
stop until he/she returns to that point.
8 - As a general rule, the participant should not remain stationary (i.e. if he/she does
not make any progress towards his/her destination) for longer than 14 days. Any
delays longer than this should have a very good reason (e.g. injury) and must be
accounted for to Guinness World Records. Note that delays that cannot be
reasonably justified may result in disqualification.
9 - Any considerable distance travelled opposite to the direction of the attempt (be it
on foot or by other means of transport such as an aircraft) will be discounted from
any calculations of the overall distance travelled.
10 - The participant must pass through two approximate antipodal points during the
attempt. For exact antipodal points the co-ordinates north and south are the same,
whilst that east plus that west equals 180°, however, for this event an allowance
of 5° difference in total is permitted. For example, Madrid, Spain and Wellington, New
Zealand:
Madrid, Spain 40.25N Auckland, NZ 41.17S Difference 0.92°
Madrid, Spain 3.43W Auckland, NZ 174.47E E+W = 177.90°
Deduct from 180° = 2.10°
Total: 2.10° + 0.92° = 3.02° - Acceptable
It is a requirement that the proposed route is submitted prior to the attempt to ensure
that the requirement with regard to the distances covered, will be achieved. The two
antipodal points on the route should be indicated.
A log book must be maintained throughout the journey (see below).
Log Book
This book should give an adequate description of the event and full details of the
participant(s) daily/overall performance.
It must be clear from the book the exact start and finish points of each leg of the
attempt, the exact start and finish times and calculation of daily and total distances
travelled.
All rest breaks or stoppages for whatever reason must also be fully detailed in the log.
Wherever possible, entries in the logbook should be signed and dated by independent
witnesses along the route (e.g. hotel staff, police, shop owners etc.). A contact
address and telephone number for each witness must be provided. It is necessary to
obtain at least one such witness signature per day.
Receipts for purchases and services may also be collected as an additional form of
proof. Travel tickets for any form of motorised transport should also be kept and
submitted.
Dated photographs at recognisable landmarks should be provided.
Details of how the distances have been calculated
Accurate professional equipment, large-scale maps and, if possible, GPS equipment
(and associated printout) should be used.
To attest to the validity and genuineness of the claim, we require signed
statements of authentication by two independent persons of some standing, one
of whom should have attended the beginning of the event, and if possible the
end.
These statements should originate directly from the witnesses (in their own hand) and
be submitted where possible on their own headed notepaper and include full contact
details
Statements should not take the form of documents pre-prepared by those involved in
the record attempt.
It will assist the claim if news coverage is obtained from throughout the trip, not merelyin the country of origin.
Guinness World Records
Circumnavigation on foot
24 February 2006