He doesn’t stop and he rarely drops.
Multitasking master Matthew Feldman simultaneously jogged and juggled his way to victory Friday when he broke a Guinness World Record for five-ball joggling one mile at the Rice University track in Houston.
Beating the 1989 record of seven minutes, 41 seconds, Feldman, a 20-year-old UF electrical engineering junior, ousted American joggler Bill Gillen from the books with a time of six minutes, 33 seconds.
“Every throw when you’re running with five balls is difficult. You’re basically juggling and your feet are following,” Feldman said.
His best practice time is six minutes, 27 seconds — six seconds faster than his time Friday. And he wants to shave those seconds off.
“I’ll probably make another attempt at some point in the future and try to improve my record,” Feldman said.
Dropping one of the orange Russian-style balls adds five to 10 seconds to his time. In practice, Feldman has joggled without any drops, but in front of spectators and media on Friday, he had three.
“You want to go faster out of being nervous, and when there’s a crowd there, juggling and running at the same time kind of conflict,” he said.
In addition to breaking the world record, Feldman joggled to raise money for a community he recently visited in Japan that was affected by last year’s tsunami.
His goal is to raise $2,500 this year through his website, www.thejugglingrunner.com, for a community in Minamisanriku.
The UF juggling club, Objects in Motion, cheered Feldman on from Gainesville. President Zak Bedell, a 20-year-old civil engineering junior, said he knew Feldman could do it.
“He’s inspired some of us in Objects in Motion to take up our joggling balls and run with him,” Bedell said, “sometimes only to be left in his path.”
Feldman motivates club members and teaches them new tricks and techniques, Bedell said.
Before Friday, Feldman’s name was already in Guinness’ book.
He’s set two other records for five-ball joggling: 400 meters in one minute and 10 seconds and 5,000 meters in 27 minutes and six seconds.
There’s only one distance he hasn’t set the mark for: 100 meters.
“It’s taken a lot of practice,” Feldman said. “But I kept working at it.”
He’ll keep joggling, but his future is up in the air. He’s taking the fall semester off for an internship at SpaceX — a platform that will launch him to his more professional ambition — becoming an astronaut.
Until then, he’s quietly awakening the world to the sport of joggling.
“He lets his juggling balls do the talking,” Bedell said. “He’s juggling his life, and I don’t know how he does it all.”
UF junior Matthew Feldman broke the Guinness World Record for five-ball joggling at Rice University Friday.
