Hopscotch is a popular game played by drawing chalk squares on the ground, traditionally ten, and hopping through them.
As part of a campaign that encourages kids to play outdoors, Generation Wild created this extraordinary hopscotch course at Chatfield State Park in Littleton, Colorado.
In order to meet the record’s requirements, Generation Wild’s team of volunteers needed to make sure that the game functioned as a hopscotch course.
Three young men hopped the course, followed by Mike Marcotte, official adjudicator from World Records, riding in a golf cart to confirm that there were no gaps in the grid.
The participants started hopping at 7:56 am, and it took them nearly 2.5 hours to reach the finish line, taking breaks along the course to prevent injuries.
At the end of the 4.37-mile course, over 7 kilometers, was a group of kids waiting to cheer the hoppers on. A joyful certificate presentation followed.
Breaking a world record requires a great amount of preparation, and things may not work perfectly along the way.
For this attempt, Generation Wild started drawing the hopscotch course 6 days in advance using non-toxic tempera paints with the relentless help of a group of 110 volunteers, to have it ready for the day of the official attempt.
But unexpected bad weather hit the area that week and the rain washed out a significant portion of the course.
Committed to breaking the record and helping promote Generations Wild’s mission, the group of volunteers did not get discouraged and with less than 48 hours left for the attempt, they re-painted the damaged course and had it ready for the big day.
After breaking the world title, Generation Wild has now opened the hopscotch course to the public.
“Generation Wild was developed to help kids and their families spend more time outside in unstructured play, and what easier, more nostalgic way to do that than hopscotch?” – Jackie Miller, Executive Director of Great Outdoors Colorado
Generation Wild’s hopscotch game surpassed the previous record set at 6,692.29 m (21,956 ft 3 in) by SEED First-Year Leadership Organization at Georgia Tech (USA) in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on 23 April 2022.
Generation Wild was created by Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO) to reconnect kids with nature by increasing the amount of time they spend outside in unstructured play.
According to upi.com; guinnessworldrecords.com
