All those kids who skipped rope around California in February are learning this week that they accomplished their goal: They set the world record for "Most People Skipping Rope" at the same time in different places.
Guinness World Records officials in London notified chief organizer Drisha Leggitt of the certification Wednesday.
"We're pretty thrilled - we hope this record stands for a while," said Leggitt, executive director of the California Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance, which sponsored the jump-athon Feb. 1 with Jamba Juice Co.
Organizers came up with the attempt at the record to show that "you don't have to be an elite athlete or have a lot of money to be healthy and fit," Leggitt said. "All you need is a good pair of shoes and a jump rope."
Participants included children from dozens of schools, but there were plenty of grown-ups, too.
After receiving Leggitt's 22 binders of evidence, the Guinness officials certified that 70,880 participants at 294 locations had jumped rope for 10 minutes at the same time. That beat the previous record of 43,772 jumpers, set in Britain in June 2009.
