37 pairs of mimes? Sounds like a place I don't want to be (The 13 Best World Records (You Wouldn't Think Would be a World Record), 4)

The two-step formula for setting a world record, remember, is

1. Think of something nobody would ever do and do that thing, then
2. Sit back and wait for someone to beat the record, making you nothing more than "the person who used to have that one record."

That formula gets turned on its head a bit by today's World Record, a record which is a bit hard for me to understand -- and that's part of why I picked it. How can it be a World Record if I'm not sure what it is people are doing to earn the record?

Plus, I'm not sure that the record was even actually set, as we'll see.

I'm talking about the World Record For Most Entries In A Two-Person Animal Pantomime Race, the record for which was set about two months ago at Goodwood Race Course.

As far as I can figure out, the race requires two-person teams to enter a 100m run during which the teams pretend to be an animal -- dressing up as the animal, too. I say "as far as I can figure out," though, because that's not entirely clear from the intro to the report of the record:

Strange things are a hoof at Goodwood. A camel, a reindeer and even a smouldering volcano have been spotted taking to the course. It can only mean one thing, a Guinness World Records attempt for the Most Entries in a Two Horse Pantomime Animal Race.

A "smouldering volcano?" Unless we're talking about Robert Pattinson, I'm not sure that either smouldering or a volcano counts as an animal, Goodwood and Guiness. The site reports that 37 pairs took part in the 2010 version of this record -- but that ought to be 36, at best, and there's no telling how many others might not have been animals as such.

What I'm trying to say, I guess, is that this is a record ripe for the breaking -- like the pizza one -- because if only 37 pairs of animal-mimes took part, you (or I, or anyone) stand a good chance of beating that. All you (or I) have to do is find 76 people willing to pretend to be animals for 100 meters, and we hold the record.

And as further proof of how easy it'll be to break this record, consider the fact that the company that helped set the record -- and insurance company known as "RSA" -- is the company that held the previous record. So they broke their own record.

That's your assignment for the day -- find 76 people and get animal-miming. As for me, I've got a seminar, and I'm kind of behind on my work. Plus, I'm still really devoted to beating that pizza record first.


Other records:

1. Largest Sushi Mosaic.

2. Fastest Time To Eat a 12" Pizza.

3.World's Largest T-Shirt.