20 wild world records set in Colorado: Spear throwing, fake mustaches, dog weddings, and more

According to Guinness World Records, Colorado is home to all sorts of world record holders.

Here are a few of the most impressive, most unique, and most bizarre records set in the Centennial State:

1. Longest chalk pavement art – Stretching 18,760 feet and 11 inches, residents of Greeley created a massive piece of pavement chalk art in 2015 to pay tribute to the area's rich history of cultural, artistic, and creative endeavors. Read more here.
2. Largest gathering of people wearing fake mustaches – In November of 2015, UC Health and the Denver Broncos teamed up to get fake mustaches on 6,471 people at Mile High Stadium. Read more here.
3. Deepest hot spring – The 'mother spring' in Pagosa Springs has been measured at at least 1,002 feet, but the plumb line used to measure the depth ran out of length. This qualifies it as the deepest measured hot spring in the world, but the ultimate depth remains unknown. Read more here.
4. Greatest altitude change by an electric car – Starting its drive in a mine in Michigan, an electric Porsche climbed 15,889 feet to the summit of Pikes Peak in September of 2021. Read more here.
5. The most expensive carnivorous plant – In July 2019, a carnivorous plant dubbed 'Leviathan' was sold for $4,500 in Colorado. Read more here.
6. Most balloons blown up in one hour – Don't be fooled by Colorado's thin air – that's no excuse when it comes to blowing up balloons. Hunter Ewen of Allenspark blew up 910 balloons in one hour in 2015, breaking a record that he also set in 2010. Read more here. Ewen also set the record for most balloons in a minute in 2015 – 18. Balloons were measured with a 20.5 centimeter diameter ring to make sure they were large enough to count.
7. Most chin-ups in 12 hours – Pueblo's Frank Sagona set a record for chin-ups, raising his chin to the bar 4,649 times in 12 hours in October of 2016. Read more here.
8. Most stairs climbed while hula-hooping – Jenny Doan climbed 10,241 stairs for charity in May of 2022, all while spinning a hula hoop. The record was set in Denver, equating to roughly 850 flights. Read more here. The following day, she set the record for most hula hoops spun while upside down – 23.
9. Longest line of toothbrushes – Placing 41,769 toothbrushes end-to-end, Sharon Lipinski and Christine Forster set the record for longest line of toothbrushes in Loveland in 2019. Read more here.
10. Largest gathering of people dressed as gorillas – In 2009, 1,061 people took part in the Denver Gorilla Run, organized by the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund. The event set a record for most people dressed like gorillas gathering in the same place. Read more here.
11. Longest manmade lightning – This one dates back to 1899, when Nikola Tesla created a manmade bolt of lightning that stretched 130 feet. It was said to be heard 22 miles away. Read more here.
12. Longest chain of carabiners – The 'Modern Woodmen of America' set the record for longest chain of carabiners in 2022, connecting enough carabiners to stretch 3,188 feet and 0.29 inches. The record raised $22,355 from carabiner sales, which was donated to the Denver chapter of National Alliance of Mental Illness.
13. Longest backward cornhole shot – Luke Lorick set this record in Loveland in 2022 with a toss of 36 feet and 7 inches. Read more here.
14. Most skiing pistes (runs) in 8 hours – Jimmy Demartini skied 70 runs in 8 hours at Beaver Creek Resort in 2017. Read more here.
15. Coldest human-made object – Teams at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder cooled a minuscule aluminum drum to 360 microkelvin (-273.14964 degrees Celsius) using lasers. This is near absolute zero (-273.15 degrees Celsius) and estimated to be 10,000 colder than the vacuum of space. The impact of the cold on vibrations also means this is the quietest drum ever made. The record was set in 2017. Read more here.
16. Largest dog wedding ceremony – In 2007, 178 pairs of dogs 'tied the knot' in Littleton, setting a record. Dogs met during a speed dating session prior to the event. Read more here.
17. Oldest person to grind a ski rail – A few months shy of 66, David Schaut performed a 'grind' trick on a ski rail in 2022, becoming the oldest person to grind a rail. He prepared by practicing the grind more than 700 times over four to five weeks and nailed it on the day the record was set. Read more here.
18. Longest spear throwing distance – A man named David Engvall launched a spear a distance of 848 feet and 6.5 inches using an atlatl. Read more here.
19. Tallest self-built castle – Jim Bishop's Bishop Castle, near Rye, stands 160 feet tall, constructed solely by Jim Bishop of stone and steel. Read more here.
20. Longest surviving headless chicken – Mike, the headless chicken, survived for 18 months after a botched decapitation. His owner, of Fruita, fed and watered the chicken directly into his gullet with an eye dropper until the chicken eventually choked to death.

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