Long Distance Skipping Pioneer Ashrita Furman

Ashrita Furman was the first skipper to go where no skipper had gone before by setting the first ever Guinness World Records for skipping the fastest marathon, half marathon, and 5K without a rope.

While all of his records have since been broken, we will always celebrate his efforts, since they set the pace for long distance skippers to come.

Ashrita’s first skipping record was for skipping  the fastest marathon (26.2 miles) in 5 hours 55 min 13 sec in Canada.

He also set a Guinness World Record for skipping a half marathon (13.1 miles) in the Foot Traffic Half Marathon in Portland on July 4, 2012 in 2 hours and 27 minutes…..and he also set a record for skipping the fastest 5K in 35 minutes and 19 seconds.

Ashrita made an additional half marathon attempt in India in front of the Taj Mahal the April of 2011, but it ended up not being accepted by Guinness because they said the record had to be set at an official half marathon running race.

Ashrita says, “In India, my time was 2 hours 39 minutes and 44 seconds. I skipped inside the grounds back and forth along a 100-yard course, just a little to the side of where the photo was taken, in front of the Taj Mahal.”

Skip on, Ashrita!

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Here are the current Guinness World Record holders for skipping without a rope as of November 16, 2019:

• The fastest marathon time for skipping without a rope is 5 hrs 24 min and 33 sec, which was achieved by Sam Guinness (UK) at the 2017 Virgin Money London Marathon, in London, UK, on 23 April 2017.
• The fastest half marathon skipping without a rope (male) is 2 hr 12 min 46 sec, and was achieved by Michal Kapral (Canada) at the Scotiabank Toronto Marathon in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on 20 October 2019.
• The fastest time to skip 5 km without a rope is 26 min 21.62 seconds and was achieved by Brendan Dowling (USA) in Rocklin, California, USA on 22 July 2015.