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Locally held Guinness World Records

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Kenneth Huggins with his toasters | Image via Guinness World Records

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Does anyone else remember flipping through Guinness World Record books when you were a kid and thinking how cool it would be to set one yourself? While most of us probably can’t say we’ve grown up to set a world record (don’t worry, our day is coming), we recently came across a few records set by Soda Citizens.

So naturally, we dove into the rabbit hole of Guinness World Records, discovered today is Guinness World Record Day + decided to compile a list of the impressive feats taken on by members of our community.

Us realizing world records are hard to beat | Gif via Giphy

Largest collection of toasters – 1,284

Yep, you read that right. Columbia resident Kenneth Huggins has collected 1,284 toasters (as of July 2012), which he stores in his home + a special-built storage house. Check out photos of his collection here. Think of all the toast possibilities.

Most expensive crab cake – $310

In June of last year, Columbia native Lazarius Walker created the world’s most expensive crab cake, which he sells at his restaurant, The Twist. The crab cake is made with king crab and lump crab meat, black truffles, butter, herbs + platinum leaves and dust. That just sounds expensive. We hear ordering the dish requires 48 hours notice + a portion of the proceeds are donated to the community.

Most bow ties tied simultaneously – 823 people

In a pre-COVID world (2014), University of South Carolina Dance Marathon gathered 823 people at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center to beat the world record of bow ties tied at the same time + raise money for the kids. The previously held record was 417, which the group easily shattered.

Greatest distance catching a grape in the mouth – 354 ft. 4 in.

Talk about mouth-eye coordination. In 2009, Paul Lyday caught a grape, thrown from ground level, from 108 meters (over 354 feet) with his mouth. Honestly, I’m equally impressed with the guy who threw the grape...

Hottest chilli pepper – Carolina Reaper

While not technically from Columbia, we couldn’t resist mentioning the Carolina Reaper pepper, which holds the record for hottest chilli pepper (1,641,183 Scoville Heat Units). Ed Currie of PuckerButt Pepper Company in Fort Mill, SC grows the peppers + set the record in September 2017.

Did we miss a locally set world record? Send us an email and let us know.

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