100 Things.com.au: Number 19- Guinness World Record

From a young age, my Christmas stocking would always attract the latest copy of the Guinness Book of World Records. The tallest man in the world, the oldest dog in the world and the fastest human on the planet became things of dreams and fantasies from a young age. This has never changed.

I don't think i'm alone when I say that I always wished that I could join these people and grace the pages of this amazing book. Imagine being a world beater at something, neigh, anything.

As it happened, my height is average (6'1 ft), I don't own a dog, and I run the 100 metres in the same time it takes to roast a chicken. Now at the age of 28 yrs old, it was clear that to realise my childhood dream, I had to find another skill that no-one else in the world would be able to beat me in.

Enter the glamorous world of Egg Crushing.

A relatively new record to Guinness, a man named Alan 'Nasty' Nash managed to crush 23 eggs in 30 seconds using nothing but his big toes in the year of 2004. This stood as the current Guinness World Record.

I had found my challenge. An event as obscure as it is messy, I knew that only with dedication and a high tolerance to odor, would I come close to breaking this unique Guinness World Record.

Training:

Rules as stipulated by Guinness in relation to this record as follows:

GUIDELINES FOR ‘MOST EGGS CRUSHED USING BIG TOES IN THIRTY SECONDS’

1. Only eggs that have been crushed within the minute will be counted.

2. Only the big toes can be used. If eggs are crushed with the foot these will not

count towards the final tally.

3. Eggs cannot be crushed from the top, only the sides of the eggs. Any crushed

in a different style will be disqualified.

4. Medium-sized eggs (with a minimum length of 6cm (2.3in) must be used.

5. If the egg-crusher prefers, the feet can be tied together at the balls or soles of

the feet.

6. The egg-crusher can be seated or sit on the floor.

7. Eggs can be placed in a holder for crushing.

8. An assistant can wipe the feet at any point during the attempt.

9. An assistant can help to place the eggs in front of the egg-crusher and also

remove debris.

It was clear from the onset that I needed an expert 'Egg Placer'.

After a grueling trial period, fate brought me to a man called Dave Cornthwaite. Dave brought not only nimble fingers and love of fun, but also an impressive resume which boast 3 of his own Guinness World Records. If you've ever wondered whether it's plausible to skateboard across the entire width of Australia (3,618 miles), the answer is yes. Dave did it in 2005!

With this experience, my confidence was sky high.

Two days of training in a bath tub, and you could say that Dave and I got to know each other in a unique way. The ease in which the attempt could be cleaned afterwards meant the bath was the ideal location. Gallons of egg yolk made its way down the bath plug like a comical take on the bloody 'Shower Scene' from Psycho. Regardless, we were crushing eggs like never before and heading into the big day we were confident.

Weeks earlier I had been invited by TNT Travel magazine in England to do a talk on my 100Things journey. This was the perfect setting to attempt the record and with media interest in Europe, Australia and even in Asia, the interest in our attempt was incredible. On the day, a live audience of around 150 people added to the tension.

Had we trained enough?

I started the day with a dream. I finished with a reality.