www.youtube.com/watch?v=lybmBiS3czU

This is such an incredible task, it certainly demonstrates that “impossible is nothing”  Having already ran two previous London Marathons in 2004 and 2007 and raising money for charity, his third and possibly final attempt in 2010 will be again to raise money for a good cause.

Speaking of his latest challenge, Jim Haysom comments,

“This world record attempt will bring together endurance and skill.  I had originally considered setting a record of flipping 1,042,010 beer mats, but that would mean flipping 25 beer mats every metre.  Running 26.2 miles or over 42 km is difficult enough, but to do this at the same time, you’d be a fool.  Therefore, I’ve decided to flip a stack of 25 beer mats at a rate of 100 times an hour and set the bar at 15,000 in about 6 hours.”

Jim Haysom’s training started today along the Richmond riverside at 8am and flipping beer mats off a wall.  It was a crisp morning and the the fresh air and blue sky was enough to get him all fired up. 

I’ll be looking for any opportunity to flip beer mats during the race, whether it be outside the many pubs that line the route, off park benches in front of the Tower of London or even on the water stations if it’s not too crowded.  Hopefully the London spectators will be cheering me on and into the world record books.

If you want to sponsor Jim Haysom for running the London Marathon, you can donate online at www.justgiving.com/jimhaysom where money will be raised for the NCT Charity.

Jim Haysom said “You might ask why I have so many? Well I once ran a dotcom company called Pub2Club.com between 1999 and 2001, and had a limited production of 20,000 beer mats made promoting the company and website address. After distributing over 13,500 in one summer, the remaining beer mats that were still sealed and in their original packaging, stayed with me after the company was closed down.”

“Now it’s time to clear out my garage and put the last of this beer mat memorabilia and nostalgia to rest. But rather than throw them all away, I thought I’d sell them and raise some money for charity.”

He said “I am not making any profit, as a minimum of £1 is given to the NCT charity (National Childbirth Trust) from each stack of beer mats sold. MissionFish will take this donation from the final value of each winning auction. Each stack of the 63 stacks have a starting bid of £5.99 and will be shipped for free with 1st class recorded delivery. I will ship worldwide for an additional £6.00 to cover postage to any country, with any remaining monies donated to the charity.”

“After eBay and PayPal fees, postage and packaging, any remaining money will be rolled up and donated to the NCT via www.justgiving.com/jimhaysom where I am trying to raise £1000. I’m running the 2010 Virgin London Marathon and this will help towards my fundraising target.”

Click here to place a bid on eBay.co.uk for one of the 63 lots for sale, of sealed and unused stacks of 100 beer mats. The auctions end on Sunday 19th July 2009.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=miHKEbLaukA

You can enter the video competition by visiting YouTube here.

There are four categories that you can enter.  Click here for more details, rules and FAQ’s.

Overview

This Contest has been launched for the general public to get beer mat flipping, capture this on video and upload to YouTube.

Categories

There are four categories for people to enter, as follows;

A. Largest single stack of beer mats flipped
B. Largest single stack of beer mats flipped whilst blindfolded
C. Simultaneous (two hands) flipping two stacks of beer mats
D. Simultaneous (two hands) flipping two stacks of beer mats whilst blindfolded

How to Enter

The record breaking beer mat flipping competition will take place exclusively on YouTube, and will close on 8th August.

The Competitition page is located at http://www.youtube.com/channel/beermatcompetition

In order to enter, each person must subscribe to the Beer Mat Flipping Competition Group on YouTube. Once subscribed, you will then be able to Submit a Video. You will be asked to include the web address (URL) of your video on YouTube.

It is important that you read the Rules before you submit your video, as there are important requirements on the naming of your video. This is to ensure that it is easy for people to know what record has been attempted.

Buy your beer mats on eBay

Get your beer mats online for a great price, and visit eBay.  There are thousands of beer mats for sale, that are brand new and perfect for beer mat flipping.

Buy beer mats on eBay – Click here

Competition Rules

Users must have a YouTube account to take part in the Competition. If you do not have a YouTube account, click here to register for one.

The beer mats must be placed in either a single pile or two identically sized piles, on a square edged table so the the edge of this pile protrudes over the edge of the table.

The beer mats are flipped vertically by the back of the hand by an upward movement.

A clean catch must be made with one hand for one pile, or two hands for two piles, with no juggling movement, with the beermats having turned through 180 degrees.

No further contact is made with the bar top or table surface.

Beer mats must be regular beer mats you would expect to find in a pub or bar, and be square with rounded edges. A minimum width of 92mm.

No cheating. Beer mats must not be fixed together in any way, such as glued together.

After the flip and catch, the beer mats must be counted out individually and recorded on video in order to qualify the number of beer mats successfully flipped.

Please ensure you include in the Title of your video, the “total” number of beer mats flipped and the letter of the Competition entered, for example if you flipped a single stack of 50, then include 50A. If it was two piles of 30 with two hands, then it’s 60C.

Drink and behave responsibly if you are doing this in public and respect others

Have fun flipping.

We accept no liability for any indirect or consequential loss or damage (whether direct or indirect) in each case, however caused, even if foreseeable. This is a fun competition AND should stay that way.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. I already have videos on YouTube of me flipping beer mats, can I submit these to the Competition?

A. Users may submit their videos to the Group as long as the Rules are adhered to. Examples include renaming the Title to accommodate which category the video is related to and the number of beer mats flipped, and ensuring that the beer mats are counted out and recorded on the video. Note, this will most likely require you to upload the video again, or renaming the title of your existing video.

Q. I have a video of me flipping beer mats, but they are oval and not square with rounded edges, does this still count?

A. Sadly only square beer mats with rounded corners may be included in the competition. This is to ensure all entries are on the same level playing field. It may be argued that it easier, or perhaps harder to flip oval beer mats, so to avoid the debate these are not allowed.

Q. I have a video of a successful beer mat flip, but I do not count them out afterwards, does that count?

A. Only videos of people who successful flip and catch the beer mats, and count them out on the video are included, as long as the rules are adhered to. The reason for this is that anyone could claim they flipped a pile of 50 beer mats but video evidence is needed to qualify the claim.

Q. Can I submit failed attempts?

A. It is recommended that your video submission is for one successful attempt, and does not include a run of failed flips. This is not only a matter of courtesy for other viewers, but it makes it a lot quicker to watch and enjoy a successful flip. People are not going to want to watch you spend 10 minutes trying to make a successful beer mat flip are they!

Q. If I am successful in flipping beer mats and get highest amount for a particular category, does that win me a prize?

A. There are no prizes, this is a competition for fun and pride.

Q. If I beat an existing World Record, will I be crowned the new World Record Holder?

A. To be officially recognised as a World Record holder, there are a couple of things to note. Generally there are strict guidelines and specifications to make your record eligible, including having evidence or witness statements. For further information vist Guinness World Records and Record Holders Republic for more details. This competition does not offer any certificates, awards or crowns, should you be successful. However, we will endeavour to include you in an article on this site, and some well deserved social kudos.

Flipping with two hands at the same time, means that you have to rely on a technically good non-flipping hand, if you can have one.  Most people will favour one particular hand for beer mat flipping, and as such it’s normally this hand that they can get their highest flip.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ijPhbtkejk

But the importance of flipping two piles at the same time is not just to have both stacks the same height, but to demonstrate how good the non-flipping hand is.  You couldn’t and wouldn’t want to see two stacks of beer mats with different sizes, it would look odd.

Set back in March 1987 by Dean Gould, he successfully flipped two piles of 65 beer mats in each hand, a total of 130 at the Feathers Public House, Felixstowe, UK.

Unfortunately, there are no public videos of this record or photos, so Dean please get in touch so we can share if you have anything.

Alternatively, if anyone out there wants to try and beat this record, it’s been standing for over 20 years!

Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be any videos to show this, but it is a Guinness World Record.  If anyone does have a copy, or Mat, should you be reading this, it would be great to share.

There is an action photo of Mat flipping a pile of beer mats that can be seen here.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=39z4n3PiiZQ

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOI9j_PdDq0

The record was beaten in March 2009 with an incredible 71 beer mat flip by Dean Gould.

Firstly, there comes a point when searching the web, that you find yourself asking this very question.  Thankfully, this website solves that one, and this is just the beginning.

Secondly, out of some bizarre talent being able to flip beer mats, people do actually search the web for beer mat flipping.  Google Analytics is enough to prove that one.

Thirdly, when you find hundreds of videos on the web of other people flipping beer mats, you come to realise that you are not the only one, so showcasing these will add some social kudos.

And lastly, launching a worldwide video competition on YouTube for beer mat flipping pulls all these things together, and should be a lot of fun at the same time!