July is never the greatest month for following sports.
It’s an amazing month for playing sports, whether you’re a bocce wizard at the backyard barbecue or a pickup basketball legend on the local blacktop.
But with a lot of major sports in their off-seasons or dead periods, there’s not much record-worthy to talk about from the professional sports ranks this month.
Which means we have more time to dedicate – to you!
This month we present some of the most amazing athletic achievements by our everyday record holders like yourselves, that were approved by our official Records Management Team in July.
And make sure to check out our July Sports Vlog at the bottom of this post for even more amazing records broken this month, presented by yours truly.
MOST PLAYERS IN A KIN-BALL EXHIBITION MATCH (photo above)
If you’re not familiar with kin-ball, it’s an increasingly popular sport played with a gigantic ball originally invented in 1986. For some full background, check out this link.
But all you need to know here is that 264 players took part in a match at Collège Immaculée Lycée Jean Paul II (France) in Saint Grégoire, France, for a new record high. The three teams involved played to a final score of Grey team with 258 points, Red team at 251, and Black team at 249.
MOST MARATHONS RUN IN A CALENDAR YEAR
Yolanda Holder loves to run.
Like, she loves it more than you or I love pizza.
After running in 106 sanctioned marathons in 2010, she beat her own record for the most marathons run in a calendar year in 2012, verified this month at a knee-wobbling 120 races.
Even crazier? Of those 120 marathons, 16 were ultramarathons (longer than 50 miles), of which three were 100-mile races. An incredible achievement by an even more incredible woman, who goes by the self-proclaimed nickname, "The Walking Diva."
FASTEST MARATHON RUN BY PARENT AND CHILD
Speaking of marathons, father and son Henry (left, above) and Graham Peck recently had their record times from the 2012 Chicago Marathon verified. With 23-year-old Graham finishing in 2 hr 25 min 40 sec, and 55-year-old Henry crossing in 3 hr 4 min 41 sec, the duo's aggregate mark of 5 hr 30 min 21 sec surpassed the previous record mark by 12 min 20 sec.
MOST REFEREE QUALIFICATIONS (MULTIPLE SPORTS)
Need someone to officiate your next match? In any sport?
Andreas Kolettis is your man.
The Greek sports enthusiast continues to add distinctions to a pursuit he’s chased for more than three years: to become officially certified as a referee in as many different sports as possible. His latest additions are archery and rugby union.
The full list: archery, athletics, badminton, basketball, beach handball, beach soccer, beach tennis, beach volleyball, blind football, boxing, bridge, chess, duathlon, fencing, football, freediving, futsal, mountaineering, paratriathlon, rally car, rugby union, sailing, sport fishing, swimming, synchronized swimming, table tennis, tennis, triathlon, underwater shooting, volleyball and wushu kung fu.
All that's missing is quidditch!
And that wraps up our sports spotlight on you the record holders for July.
Watch our video here for even more records, including some of the craziest push-ups you’ll ever see.
And we’ll see you next month to find out what August brings us!