On April 22nd, we arrived at the Ocean Course in Half Moon Bay a well oiled machine with a clear vision and game plan:
Pace the rounds out of the gate at about 53-55 minutes per round and begin the next round as close to the 60 minute mark as possible….
That strategy sounded great, but when I hit the start line, I couldn’t get Ian Colston’s words to Ted Pappas out of my head:
“Would ya just go out and run like bloody hell and break the record!”
7am struck and boom, the first ball was in the air… And then we ran like blood f*cking hell!!!
42 minute later, the first round was complete…
44 minutes later, the second round was complete…
We were FULL SEND and either we were going to break the record or we were going to die trying.
Early rounds were completed in the 40-50 minute range then fell off to the 50-60 minute arena.
I truly believe the fall off would have been even steeper than it was had it not been for the 10 different youth sports teams that came to run a round with me.
Eventually, as night fell, I was sloshing through rounds well over an hour and was doing everything I could to hang in for dear life. When we completed round 20, I knew I had 2 rounds and 6 holes to reach my goal…
By running like “bloody hell,” we were able to build such a big cushion that the record was easily within reach…
At 5:31 am, with an hour and 29 minutes left to play, we completed the 6th hole on our 23rd round and our 402nd hole of the day, officially breaking Ian’s 401 hole Guinness Book of World Record mark…
When I say “We,” I don’t just say it in a feeble attempt to include a fictitious cast of characters on what really is an individual event…
I say “We” because without a complete and total team effort, there is an absolute ZERO chance I would have been able to get close to the record…
My boys Kowalski and Franz ran a combined 100 of the 106 miles right by my side. I needed 2 witnesses at all times that could work in no more than 4 hour shifts, and I had to have a golf professional by my side counting strokes and making sure we adhered to each and every official PGA rule, who could only work in 4 hour shifts as well…. 12 civilians plus 6 pros amounts to 18 people that were officially part of the record… Plus, we add in our dude Mike Marcotte, the official Guinness Book Of World Records representative and the count stands at 19; 20 if you include myself and 21 if you include the person who orchestrated the entire event… My wife, Tarah.
The most impressive part was Tarah being able to flawlessly run the event amidst absolute CHAOS… Not only did she lineup Guinness, the necessary golf pros and witnesses, but she organized the different youth sports teams to run a round and then delivered the grants on behalf of the foundation to the different teams… Oh yea, she also had our 3 little munchkins running around that she had to keep tabs on too…
We finished the day on the 6th hole on the 24th round, 420 holes and 24 hours after the day began. Yup, the exact same hole we broke the record on a round earlier. Also, 420 is a special number to Northern California, and my boy Kowalski, so it just seemed fitting to stop there. 💨 ⛳️
Overall, I understand that it is a whacky World Record, but for us, this event and this record meant much more…
We were able to raise nearly $60,000 that will continue to be handed out to different youth activity organizations committed to LET THEM PLAY.
This event also reminded me of the impermanence of all things…
Yet, although some things are gone, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are dead…
Ian Colston and his record are no longer physically here with us, but he left a GO HARD spirit that continues to inspire and a record that stood for 47 years and represents an eternal legacy of pushing limits and kicking ass.
If there is one thing we can all take away from this, I believe it’s actually pretty simple…
In the brilliant words of Ian Colston….
Let’s just keep running like Bloody Hell!!!!!!
-EB