The Philippines has successfully broken two world records with the Iglesia ni Cristo’s Worldwide Walk for victims of typhoon Yolanda.
Shortly after 4pm today, Guinness World Record adjudicator Kirsty Bennet announced that the INC Worldwide Walk has beaten the record for largest charitable walk in 24 hours (multiple venue), after drawing 519,221 participants.
Bennet praised the passion and dedication of the event’s organizers. “I cannot stress enough the commitment, organization, and passion required to achieve a record of this magnitude. Like all records set by Guinness World Record, there are extremely strict criteria and guidelines that need to be followed. That is why when a title like this is given, it is a huge achievement.”
The announcement was made before an enthusiastic crowd at the Diamond Hotel in Manila.
Held within 24 hours across 135 sites in 29 countries and 13 time zones, the walk had also beaten the record for the largest charity walk in a single event with the recorded 175,409 participants in the 1.6 kilometer walkathon in Roxas Blvd., Manila.
The first in the series of walks was held in New Zealand at 2AM on Saturday (Philippine Standard Time), and the last in Honolulu, Hawaii at 1AM Sunday. Participating countries included Australia, Japan, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Spain, Italy, France, United Kingdom, USA, and Canada.
The record for the largest charity walk in a single site was previously held by Singapore with 77,500 participants, while that for the largest charity walk in multiple venues was by Canada with 231,635 participants in 1,011 locations.
