Longest wheelie in a wheelchair-world record
set by Michael Miller
Hortonville High School, WI, USA -- Michael
Miller, 19, of Ellington, took 40 laps around the quarter-mile,
track logging 10.016 miles and setting the new world record
for the Longest
wheelie in a wheelchair.
"It was amazing," said the soft-spoken
man who's already thinking about ways to break the record.
The former world record for the Longest
wheelie in a wheelchair was 8.097 miles, set by Paul
Stares of England in 2005.
Despite his disability, Michael popped his
first wheelie at age 4 after receiving his first wheelchair.
And he never stopped.
"He'd get in so much trouble in school because
he'd spend more time on wheelies, and the teachers would just
run behind him because they thought he was going to tip over,"
his mother Karri Miller said.
Michael was about 10 when he began thinking
of how he might get into the Guinness records, but over the
years, multiple surgeries kept him from his goal.
A favorite uncle's death in May 2008 spurred
him to make his dream of executing the longest wheelie in
a wheelchair come true. Michael joined the YMCA and trained
for hours on the hilly roads near his home.
"Every time he did a lap everyone got up and cheered
and pushed him on," Karri Miller said. "He wouldn't take any
water. He was so afraid he would get distracted and he had
to focus." Three miles into the feat the sun came out and
the resulting humidity caused steam to rise from the track.
Although Michael struggled, he never lost his composure, Holso
said.
The attempt took 3 hours and 55 minutes
to complete.
