Oceanside CA— George Hood accomplished his plank goal of surpassing the 3 hour mark with a time of 3 hours and ten minutes at the Junior Seau Apmitheater, on Sunday. “The first time call was at 2 hours and I thought I was at 1:30 maybe 1:40 at best. One always wants to be surprised at the first time call and be further ahead than what one might otherwise think.” explained George “I’ve been very successful at doing this when I’m in the fight. That trait is a direct tribute to the crew that surrounds me at the platform…their chemistry, personality and my own cognitive thoughts which take me into an abstract and distorted plane of total disconnect from the reality of the clock and the moment. The secret to doing that is mine.
George burned a total of 1,173 calories, 31% of which were “fat calories” during the effort.
George said his crew is critical to his success. “A very heartfelt thank you to Coach Heather Cameron, Mary M. Shanley , Operations Manager; Debra Rai Commandeur, (Training coach); Greg Sintetos (Equipment Boss); Craig Thompson (Crew Chief); Matthew Broderson (Public Relations) and host of other friends and supporters who came by and sat with me at the right time with all the right words of encouragement.”
For training purposes George did the last half-hour or so with a forty pound weight on his back.
George said the Weighted Plank at 40lbs is a separate stand alone category that he’s has been cleared by GWR to do at some point. Current GWR record holder for the 40lb weighted plank is a colleague in Idaho, Eva Bulzomi who set that particular GWR on November 1, 2014 at 44mins, 5 seconds. Eva is also the current female GWR record holder for the plank at 2 hour, 12mins, 1 sec which she set August 29, 2014.
George plans another training plank, tentatively set for April 12, 2015, in his quest to reclaim the world record.