Greatest Tractor Parade set world record - Canadian Cancer Society

Bill Richardson, organizer of the Greatest Tractor Parade - Farmer's Driving Out Cancer," is pictured on his 1944 Cockshutt 60 tractor to promote the event. He is joined by Bill Hannan, who painted the tractor to represent the various cancer colours.

However, the Dresden branch of the Canadian Cancer Society will try to transform this routine occurrence into somewhat of a spectacle on July 24.

The group, which held its 20th annual Dresden Cancer Fun Auction on Saturday, took the opportunity to announce plans to try to set a Guinness World record for holding the largest parade of tractors ever seen.

Ken Richards, an auction committee member, said he got the idea after a similar parade was held in conjunction with a plowing match held near Kingston. That event set the benchmark of 601 tractors participating.

The goal is to have area farmers collected pledges to participate in what is being billed as "The Greatest Tractor Parade: Farmer's Driving Out Cancer!"

The auction committee unveiled their mascot tractor, painted in the cancer colours — yellow, pink and blue.

Richards said yellow represents all cancers, pink if for breast cancer and blue is for prostrate cancer.

Organizing the fundraiser is personal for the Dresden-area farmer who said, "I had a prostrate cancer operation myself three years ago."

He added as a farmer, he likes to organize events to get farmers involved in the community.

The interest is already building, he said, noting one person indicated they want to enter nine tractors in the parade.

Richards said there will take some organizing to qualify for the world record, noting the event will need to be videotaped and photograph to provide verification to the people at Guinness World Records.

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Longest Hug World Record - Faisal Mohyud-Din and Mohammed Azeem

Faisal Mohyud-Din and Mohammed Azeem, students at Salford University,   managed to hug one another for 24 hours and 17 minutes - setting the new world record for the Longest Hug.

Mr Mohyud-Din, a talented sprinter who is aiming to compete in the 2012 Olympics, said: "This was certainly a marathon rather than a sprint. "I needed all my reserves of stamina to get through it, but I'm over the moon to have broken the world record for the Longest Hug - hopefully the first of many."

    They have raised money for the new Christie cancer unit in Oldham. The embrace is the charity logo of The Christie Hospital.

    The previous Guinness world record for Longest Hug was smashed by 16 minutes.

They finished their feat at Oldham Athletic's Boundary Park stadium during the team's game against Leyton Orient.

   Alicia Custis, head of communications at The Christie, added: "Massive congratulations to Faisal and Azeem for the new Longest Hug world record - they've done fantastically well and fought against sleep deprivation and muscle fatigue. "I know it was incredibly hard work and I'm hugely grateful to them for doing this for the Christie. This is a hug for all our cancer patients."

   They were monitored throughout the challenge and had to stay awake at all times.

The Salford University students said they wanted to do it because everyone is at risk of suffering from the killer disease.   

The Christie Cancer Hospital is opening a new £17m radiotherapy centre in Oldham later this week.

Source: worldrecordsacademy

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