Human beings have gone through a tremendous journey right from the origin of our species to where we are now. Despite the ability to think and make choices, we are still finding out more about ourselves even today. From creating the wheel to building spaceships and exploring the universe, our journey has been magnificent to say the least. But what makes us so special? Is it just our intelligence or our opposable thumbs? Or is it our will or the ability to dream and make them come true? Maybe it’s a combination of everything that makes us who we are. While there are several technological or industrial feats that were amazing to behold, here are some truly amazing physical feats some of us have achieved. These feats embody strength, passion, endurance and perseverance and will surely inspire you to think of the impossible. These feats have broken the mold of what we thought was humanly possible.
1) The Running Man Cometh
In 2005, a man named Dean Karnazes completed his 350 mile run. What was incredible about this feat wasn’t the fact that he ran over 300 miles. It was that he did it without any breaks. Yes you read it right. He ran for over 80 hours without taking any breaks. He endured high temperatures, sleep deprivation and exhaustion to perform this incredible feat. He had to consume over 40,000 calories and drank more than nine gallons of water to sustain his body while running.
What is more incredible about this was the story behind the run. The idea to test his limits came to him one day after a night of heavy drinking. Unsatisfied with where he was in his life, he decided to take back the power of his life by achieving something that was thought to be impossible. He didn’t run to prove himself to others but rather to himself. As a kid, he had loved running and he couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate taking back his life than to do what he loved.
2) Did Someone Say Pushups?
Pushups have always been the mark of strength. Almost everyone who works out have at one point of time engaged in a pushup contest with their friends. There is one man however who shouldn’t be allowed to participate in such contests and that man is Minoru Yoshida. In 1980 he completed a mindboggling 10,507 pushups without any breaks. The previous record was set by Charles Linster in 1965 who had completed 6,006 pushups. To this day, no one has been able to break Yoshida’s record.
3) The Boxing Match That Went On Forever
Well, forever is a gross overstatement but this feat is certainly unfathomable. Boxing requires you to have incredible stamina and strength. Most boxing matches are short depending on the people who are fighting. In 1893, Andy Bowen and Jack Burke took part in a boxing match that took over 7 hours and 19 minutes before it ended. Both the boxers lost over 10 pounds during the match. What was truly amazing was that no one won.
After 7 hours, the referee had to call it a draw because neither of them was willing to give up. During the fight Burke broke his wrists and still continued to fight until every bone in his hand were broken. Bowen sustained grave injuries to his head and he also refused to throw in the towel. Apart from the unfathomable feat of punishing their bodies for so many hours, the truly amazing part of this feat was their sheer will. Despite almost breaking their bodies, they refused to give up and kept on fighting.
4) The Tale of Aquawoman
In 2013, a record was made by a 64 year old woman named Diana Nyad. It’s quite ironic that she shares the same first name as Wonder Woman because the feat that she performed was stuff that only super heroes could pull off. Diana swam for over 110 miles which is equivalent to 5 English Channel crossings. She literally swam from Cuba to Florida and it took her about 53 hours to do just that.
Diana had attempted the swim before but an accident had occurred when she came across a poisonous box jellyfish. Apart from the attack she also suffered severe injuries to her shoulder. When she decided to do it one more time, almost everyone told her she wouldn’t be able to. However, she had no intention of her dream being just a dream. She fought against all the obstacles that came in front of her and achieved the impossible. After reaching the shores of Key West exhausted by the long swim, she cheekily told the crowd that one can never be too old to chase their dreams. You gotta love her.
5) The Tale of Aquaman
If you haven’t been impressed enough with Diana Nyad’s story, prepare yourself. Branko Petrovic did something that no one on Earth could ever imagine or aspire to do. He held his breath under water for precisely 11 minutes and 54 seconds. Static Apnea is a discipline where people hold their breath underwater for as long as they can.
For the Guinness Book of World Records, there are two categories for it namely the Static Apnea and the O2 assisted one. In the O2 assisted one, the individual gets to breathe 100 percent pure oxygen for half an hour before holding their breath under water but in free diving, there is no such assistance. The O2 assisted one actually helps people to hold their breath longer.
Branko Petrovic achieved this record in the static apnea category and therefore had to hold his breath without any prior assistance or boost. While even 5 minutes of holding breath underwater may sound dizzying to some, what Branko accomplished is nothing short of extraordinary.
These are merely 5 of the hundreds of thousands of amazing human feats achieved so far. But all 5 of the above have something in common and that is sheer will and the power of the human spirit. All of the above amazing individuals accomplished wonders because they didn’t believe in limits. They bravely chose to redefine the impossible and prove what is possible. Where will we go from here? Guess we just have to find out and be amazed when it happens.