Ryan Alonzo displayed extraordinary speed and endurance to beat the Guinness world record for the double under skips during the Jump to Greater Heights event at Ayala Malls Circuit Makati on Saturday.
Fondly called “Skipman,” the 34-year-old father of one bettered the previous high of 20,000 double skips when he made 21,327 double after six hours.
In jump rope, a double under means a participant needs to jump up higher than usual while swinging the rope twice under his feet.
Despite battling cramps, the son of Kumori Japanese Café owner went on to establish a new world mark of 40,980 skips after six more hours.
Pending recognition from the Guinness World Records, Alonzo, trained and mentored by Gadric Chusenfu, was overjoyed by his incredible feat.
He almost quit due to vexing cramps but was cheered on by family members, including La Salle swimming team captain Benzi Yang, who helped him cool down on several occasions.
“I’m out of words, it is super overwhelming. Halfway through my legs were cramping,” said Alonzo, a product of Xavier School.
“I didn’t expect talaga na maaabot ko pa and when you guys started cheering parang becoming happy lang, suddenly mataas na pala number ko in that hour.”
Julie Alonzo also thanked the people behind her son’s feat, especially Yang, saying: “Thank you so much Benzi for helping Ryan made the feat possible. You came exactly at the right time. You did all the legs shaking, stretching, and ice cubes here and there. And all the morale support and encouraging words ‘Go, go, go Uncle Ryan…Ngayon ka pa mag-give up?”
Chusenfu said Alonzo trained like a marathoner as he went through strength, speed and endurance workouts just to make sure that he is physically ready for the challenge.
