Coupeville kids do jumping jacks for Guinness

The Coupeville Boys and Girls Club jumped its way into history books last week.

On March 22, 19 children and staff members joined 20,000 others from 1,000 clubs around the country in a coordinated effort to set a Guinness World Record for the most people doing jumping jacks, in multiple venues, for two consecutive minutes.

Although official results have yet to be released, the previous record was 278 people and club officials are confident their attempt succeeded. But even if it didn’t for some unknown reason, Coupeville club Director Eileen Stone said giving it a shot was still a whole lot of fun.

“It was hilarious,” said Stone, recalling the smiles and laughter from participating kids.

To maximize exposure, the club made the attempt on the Highway 20 pedestrian overpass. The honks of encouragement from passing motorists were great but things literally began to shake up when the bridge began flexing with the sustained weight of 19 people jumping up and down.

“It freaked me out because it was moving and I was moving,” said Sean Toomey-Stout, a 9-year-old Greenbank resident.

The effort to set the record was based on the national club’s Triple Play program, which encourages kids to eat healthier, become more physically active and increase their ability to engage in healthy relationships.

While the Coupeville club is too small to endorse the full program, Stone said they signed up for this activity for essentially the same reasons.

“It’s about getting kids active,” Stone said.

It got a few adult club members active too. Participating in the effort was club Recreational Assistant Josie Prescott. Doing jumping jacks is not as easy as it seems and, while she had a great time, she didn’t walk away without a few sore muscles.

“I paid for it later but it was worth it,” Prescott said.

Contact Whidbey News Times Staff reporter Justin Burnett at jburnett@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5054.

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