One of my most memorable collegiate memories was the day more than 2,500 of my fellow Ball State Cardinals and I gathered on the university’s quadrangle to jump in the air at the same time — all in an effort to make the Guinness Book of World Records and appear in a Toyota commercial. I’m not sure if we broke the world record but it sure was fun trying! 

I’ve been obsessed with world records since I was a kid. I especially love hearing about wacky feats achieved by ordinary people. Remember that Brady Bunch episode in which Bobby and Cindy try to break the teetor-tottering world record? That’s the kind of off-the-wall record that still fascinates me. 

Since I’m also curious about Hoosiers who hold a place in THE record book, I did some online snooping. Here’s what I discovered:

• Garfield, the comic strip created by Muncie’s own Jim Davis, holds the Guinness world record for being the world’s most syndicated comic strip. It appears in some 2,100 newspapers and journals in 80 countries and is read by 200 million people.
• The largest “Rock, Paper, Scissors” tournament — with 2,950 participants — was held at 2014’s Gen Con in Indianapolis. 
• Hard to believe but there’s a world record for most consecutive rope skips on a bed of nails over another person. And it’s held by Fremont couple Jon and Amy Bruney who set the record in 2013. Jon balanced the bed of nails on his stomach while Amy jumped up and down 117 times. Jon, who recently appeared in TBS’ Go Big Show, also set a world record by pulling a 31,000-pound-plus semi-truck for one mile in one hour, 36 minutes.
• Last June, Lori Keeton, from Lizton, wakesurfed for eight straight hours on Raccoon Lake to claim a world record spot. She hopes to break her record by doubling her time this year.
• Interested in making the world’s largest ball of paint even larger? Schedule an appointment to visit the ball and its owners Mike and Glenda Carmichael of Alexandria (WorldsLargestBOP@yahoo.com). You’ll be able to add another layer of paint to the over 27,600 layers of paint that have been applied to an ordinary baseball since 1977 and be part of a world record. The ball already weighs over 2½ tons.

They say records are meant to be broken. If you long to make the record books, start by doing some research first at https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records/what-makes-a-guinness-world-records-record-title/. That way, you’ll know exactly how to reach your goal.