Maine is Home to Some of the Weirdest World Records Ever Set

For a short period, one could argue I held a world record.

If you know me in person at all, you know I have a deep love for The Simpson's. I always have. Several years back, a close friend who's a tattoo artist, suggested for fun that we start a Simpson's sleeve and see where it ends up. So far, I have almost 150 characters tattooed on me.

A few years ago, I saw this guy setting out for the world record for the same thing, but he was pursuing it formally. At the time, he only had a little over 100 characters. I was way ahead. But he had them on his back, and shoulders, and arms... His level of dedication was intense, so why would I nitpick? He now has way more than me, by a long shot.

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What are some of Maine's weirdest world records?

MentalFloss.com just put out a video going over their picks for the strangest world records from each state. Massachusetts has a guy who threw 13 tea bags into mugs in 30 seconds... that's a record. Another person from California managed to fit over 4,000 bobbie pins into his beard... that's another record.

So for Maine, they picked Keith Dinsmore from Portland. He currently holds the record for the most number of functioning gadgets on a cosplay outfit. He went to a convention as Batman, and managed to have 30 functioning accessories. Flashlight, rope, and of course... a phone charger. We all know about the tallest snowperson and such, but what else we got?!

The most corn husked in one minute.

Michael Diggins Jr. of Scarborough performed an amazing feat in 2015, when he shucked 13 ears of corn in one minute. That may not sound like much to you, but as a former kitchen employee, trust me... that's huge. The bigger question is, where was he finding fresh corn in November when he set the record?!

The largest umbrella sleeve collection.

On Peak's Island, Nancy Hoffman has more umbrella sleeves than anyone, anywhere. Not actual umbrellas, just the sleeve that they're carried in. It does make one wonder what Nancy does when it rains. Does she hold up a handful of the sleeves to keep dry? Or does she keep an umbrella in at least one of the sleeves?

Fastest one-mile run in swim fins.

Yeah... you read that right. Zachary Miller set this record in 2014 at Brunswick High School. The real takeaway here though, is not only did he run a mile in swim fins, he ran a damn fast mile in swim fins. He ran it in less than 6 minutes. I don't think I could run a mile in 60 minutes. At least not without almost dying halfway through, and needing a lot of stops to catch my non-existent breath.

We actually built a 150-foot canoe.

Well, okay. It was actually only 149 feet and one inch long. Students and teachers at Nokomis High School in Newport built this monstrosity. No word on whether they actually put it in the water. I'd hate to be the sternman on that trip.

Obviously, we don't seem interested in "normal" world records. But to be fair, breaking world records typically requires a team of people all working together to make things happen. So maybe there's a direct correlation between the relative stupidity of a world record, with its ability to be performed by one person? Hard to say. Guess we'll just have to keep in touch with Guinness to find out.

Maybe you could break a world record by gobbling down all these in front of a bunch of tourists?