Steve Quinlan set a new Guinness world record for speed on SkyTrain.
By visiting every SkyTrain station in under three hours, he hit a mark set by the people at Guinness, and brought a B.C. version of the London Tube Challenge to the Lower Mainland.
Once Guinness views all of his video evidence of his feat on May 4, and confirms the data, it will be listed in the Guinness World Records, alongside people solving Rubik’s cubes in seconds, and 73-kilogram Oreo cookies.
Quinlan completed the feat in 2:49.73, and set the unofficial record.
The London Tube Challenge is a longstanding race for the fastest time to travel to all London Underground stations. It has been tracked by Guinness since 1960. There are 270 stations, and the record is 15:45.38.
He has already heard a buzz about his SkyTrain record in the transit community, and expects challenges.
“I’m quite certain there will be people trying to beat it,” he said.
Quinlan looks forward to it, and says records are made to fall.
To make it official, they will have to log their times at each station, get photo evidence, video, have two witnesses and two timers – and essentially have proof behind any doubt, he said.
Quinlan said he is not getting excited until he hears back from Guinness that he officially has the record. One-third of record attempts are turned down due to errors in providing proof, he said.
But he and his entourage celebrated the unofficial mark at the Billy Minor Pub afterward.
He did the feat to raise funds for Alouette Addictions, where he works as an addictions councillor, and said it has raised $1,000 so far. The money will go toward Elementary School Substance Literacy Program.
“Our experience has taught us that it is common for individuals to first be introduced to drugs in elementary school,” said his donations page. “The Substance Literacy Program provides opportunities for students to understand the complex ways in which drugs impact the mental health, and physical health and well being of individuals, communities and societies.”
He is still taking donations through the website fastestskytrain.ca.