Walking is one of the simplest things you can do in life to keep fit, there is no excuse really. You can walk with any type of weather and yet, many of us prefer to avoid walking whenever possible. By organizing a world record attempt for the Largest barefoot walk Infinitus (China) Company Ltd, specializing in Chinese herbal products, reminded us all that regular walking can improve your fitness and contribute to lessening pollution.

Barefoot walking on a suitable surface can also help you to reconnect with nature and with your own body; every step you take stimulates the pressure points on the sole of your foot, so you get a full foot massage as well. I bet you never thought how much a good walk can do for you!

The attempt was organized in the city of Chengdu, in the Sichuan province of China. Chengdu has beautiful weather (it is said to be one of the hottest cities in China) and a world famous spicy cuisine.
In 2008 the inhabitants of the Sichuan region have witnessed the tragedy of one of the deadliest earthquakes, but showing resilience and determination to look ahead, they attended the record event in large numbers with enthusiasm and big smile on their faces, singing out the slogan “Enjoy walking, enjoy fitness”.

Mass participation records can be tricky to organize. For Guinness World Records, it is not enough to know that hundreds or thousands of participants attended an event, we must know the exact final number and also, we need to make sure that every participant took part actively in the record attempt, and didn’t simply stand there. In this case the company responsible for the organization did an excellent job, using a digital turnstile system to count people as they entered and exited a premeasured track measuring 1 mile, as per our guidelines. Enough supervisors helped me to make sure everyone was barefoot (participants were given a small bag to keep their shoes during the walk). Each participant was given a digital ID cars, which they could swipe at the beginning and end of the track.

After some checking with the supervisors and the notaries present, I was very happy to confirm that the minimum requirement of 500 participants was beaten by the people of Chengdu who managed to bring the record mark to 1,141. Congratulation to everyone in Chengdu who participated and to Infinitus who organized an impeccable event to promote a healthy lifestyle.

Let’s see if anyone else now will challenge this record around the world!

Marco Frigatti

6 September