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| Our fine city is full of record breakers REBECCA GOUGH 27 September 2007 09:21 Where would you find a morris dancer, a springer spaniel and a baby's pram? Answer: in the new Guinness Book of World Records, due to be released this week. Some of the most bizarre records have been set in our very own city, where fascinating feats in dancing, dogs and sports have been recorded. Murphy, a springer spaniel, entered the book when he became the first sniffer dog to be trained for the purpose of identifying illegal mobile phones. Trained by the Eastern Area Drug Dog Team, he worked with his handler, Mel Barker, to detect contraband items among prisoners at Norwich Prison which could be used to plot escapes, arrange drugs deliveries or to intimidate witnesses from their trials. If this fails to impress you, then how about an unusual sporting entry - one for the fastest half marathon while pushing a pram? Long distance runner Neil Davison completed the Norwich half marathon in the bizarre way, in a record one hour, 15 minutes and eight seconds, in 2005. Meanwhile, morris men danced 26 miles from Norwich to South Walsham in eight hours and four minutes in 2002. Speaking at the time, organiser Julie McKenzie said: “This was always going to be very tough but we hoped we would be able to make it. Guinness Book of Records guidelines stipulate that we must dance for an hour at a time and then have no more than five minutes' break. We will all have very sore feet afterwards.” Now in its 53rd year, the book will hit the shelves tomorrow, and this time will include exclusive interviews with stars such as Johnny Depp and JK Rowling. The Guinness Book of World Records states the tallest living man as Leonid Stadnyk from the Ukraine, at 8ft 5.5in, and the oldest woman as Yone Minagawa from Japan at 114. Among the remarkable new records included in the 2008 edition, you can find out how many dogs took part in the largest dog wedding ceremony, what inspired Rolf Iven to walk the longest distance on hot plates and how much milk Ilker Yilmaz can squirt from his eye. |