88,000 Californians go for a rope-skipping record
Second-graders Anaya Basurto, left, Destiny Cervantes, middle, and Jonathan Salsbury, right, jump rope at Caleb Greenwood School in River Park as part of a record attempt involving 550 California schools.
Students at Bowling Green Charter School in Sacramento were extra careful to double knot their shoes and tie their belts Monday morning. They had a Guinness World Record to break.
Mayor Kevin Johnson counted down.
At exactly 9 a.m., 1,000 neon-colored jump ropes undulated. One thousand kids and adults hopped up and down in the playground.
Van Halen's guitar cadences roared from the loudspeakers: "I get up, and nothing gets me down … Might as well jump. Jump!"
The scene was replicated across 40 schools in the Sacramento region and 550 schools in California, the event's organizers said.
Bowling Green Charter School served as the headquarters, its activity broadcast live to rope skippers everywhere, from a Rancho Cordova National Guard unit in Iraq to members of the California congressional delegation in Washington, D.C.
All told, organizers said, 88,000 Californians took part. If the numbers are certified, they will have broken the Guinness World Record for "Most People Jumping/Skipping Rope at the Same Time."
The record is currently held by 59,000 jumpers in Australia.
Ten minutes after the first jump, the event was over.
The students lined up with their classes, getting strawberry- and peach-flavored Jamba Juice as a reward.
Bowling Green Charter School participates in a statewide jump to break a Guinness World Record. videos.sacbee.com