World Book Day this year saw kids dress up as their favourite book characters, from Harry Potter to Horrid Henry. But one boy, Alasdair, decided to dress in something a bit different. 📚
As his favourite book is the Guinness World Records book, he wanted to dress as someone who features in it. But who? The world’s tallest man Sultan Kosen? The owner of the longest moustache EVER, Ram Singh Chauhan? 📏
Nope. ❌
Alasdair decided to go dressed as official Guinness World Records Adjudicator, Mark McKinley, earning himself the nickname of Mini Mark. 🧔🏻
Two months after world book day, Alasdair and his parents visited the Guinness World Records office so he could come face to face with his World Book Day inspiration.
Not only did Alasdair meet Adjudicator Mark, but he got to go through some adjudication training which ended in record-breaking fun!
"We tested Alasdair’s abilities with the tools of the trade. The measuring tape, clicker and, most importantly of all, the stopwatch. While Alasdair handled the clicker and tape well it was with the stopwatch that he truly excelled," Adjudicator Mark said.
"I have never seen someone manage to get a stopwatch to stop on exactly one second as infuriatingly frequently as he could. I was informed that this skill was down to many hours spent playing Minecraft and Fortnite. I am now saving for a console of my own…" he continued.
The aim was to get him ready to adjudicate a real, OFFICIAL record for Martin Rees. Martin is a magician and was attempting most magic tricks performed blindfolded in one minute.
"When it came to the adjudication itself, Alasdair was impressed by the tricks taking place but managed to maintain the steely demeanour and poker face required of an adjudicator. The main difficulty with a record like this one is being able to keep on top of the counting process when everything is happening so quickly." Mark explained.
Meet Mini Mark
Why did you decide to dress as Mark McKinley for World Book Day?
Because I enjoy the book and him individually. I first saw Mark on the TV and in all the books.
I've known about Guinness World Records for a while but I've only recently started reading the books.
What are some of your favourite records?
I like the sports and the games ones!
Do some of your friends like Guinness World Records?
Yeah quite a few of them do because they read all the books. I might try and break a record with my friends, if they're actually up to it!
What is it about Guinness World Records you like?
All of it, really. They're all fun and give you ideas of stuff to do. Guinness World Records are a team around the world capturing records.
Do you think you would ever attempt a record?
Maybe like a gaming or sport one
Did you enjoyed your visit to the office?
I enjoyed it. It was quite fun and there was quite a bit to do, especially training to be an adjudicator.
What was it like meeting Mark?
It was like a once in a lifetime. You don't really get to see him out and about. I think we made a good team.
Did you find the adjudicating difficult?
I found it a little difficult. You have to be precise on the clicking! It's more difficult that I imagined because you have to get everything perfect. I got confused a little bit but when I though back, I got it.
If you worked at Guinness World Records would you rather be an adjudicator or make the book?
They're both quite cool jobs, so it would be quite hard to choose!
What did you think of the Magic trick you adjudicated?
It was quite difficult because there were a couple of attempts. Every time he did a trick it was hard to keep count. The wallet trick was my favourite. [Can you spot the wallet trick in the video? 👆]
At the end of the day, Alasdair decided he'd rather be a magician than an adjudicator when he grows up. It appears Adjudicator Mark's job is safe…
Until World Book Day 2020 😈
Want to be like Adjudicator Mark and have a go at judging record attempts? Well we have an adjudicator bootcamp at KidZania in London, and you could also win a family ticket to this exciting day out!
