If you're not up to top notch sporting endeavour or conquering mountains then, for decades, there has been an alternative route to officially proclaiming yourself world class. Guinness World Records allow those with a niche talent to shine.

From the number of grains of rice eaten using only chopsticks (25, in case you were wondering), to the longest human tunnel travelled through by a skateboarding dog (30 people, since you ask), your date with minor celebrity awaits.

And Kent has seen its fair share of record-breakers over the years - as well as numerous attempts which narrowly failed to make the grade.

Here are just a few...

HITS

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Not many of us can claim to have run the London Marathon - fewer still when dressed up as a famous character. But Maidstone hairdresser Philip Powell can trump the lot of us.

For he has achieved the title of running the fastest marathon dressed as Mr Potato Head after completing the London Marathon in 2017. Want to beat it? Then wear the gear and run faster than 3 hours, 24 min and 19 seconds.

However, his attempt the following year to secure the same title but dressed as a Star Wars character saw him beat the previous record as Darth Vader - but was comfortably eclipsed by someone dressed up as an X Wing pilot.

Bit like the film, then.

Hard to swallow

Johnny Strange from Dartford certainly lives up to his name. He has held a host of records and none are for the faint hearted.

He currently holds the title for the most swords swallowed in three minutes - a feat achieved in 2016 by taking a razor-sharp, 21-inch sword and sliding it down his throat, narrowly avoiding major organs in the process, 16 times.

But that's not all.

He is also proud holder of the heaviest weight lifted by pierced ears - 21.63kg (47lb 10oz) - eclipsing his own previous best. And just to underline the strength of his earlobes, he also pulled a light aircraft with the said same - giving him the title of heaviest weight pulled too. Funny fellow.

Hearts in the right place

Students at the University of Kent in Medway put their heart into their effort to break the world record for the largest amount of origami hearts in February of this year - comfortably eclipsing the previous record of 50,000.

They folded their way to 53,704 with the display going on show at the Historic Dockyard Chatham - with the final effort the result of 11 months of hard work.

It was all in a good cause too, with the feat raising awareness and funds for the Molly McLaren Foundation and Cardiac Risk in the Young.

Flying high

Perhaps not a world record as such, but the very first crossing of the English Channel on a hoverboard was not an achievement of Marty McFly, but French inventor Franky Zapata who flew across the stretch of water from his homeland to Kent earlier this month.

It took him just 22 minutes - with a brief refuelling break halfway across - to cross the 21-mile stretch. It was an example of if at first you fail - his first attempt weeks earlier saw him fall into the sea when attempting to refuel.

Staying with Channel crossings, in April 2011 onlookers witnessed the remarkable side of 49 hot air balloons travel en masse to France - creating a Guinness World Record for the most balloons across the Channel. Organised by Palletways, the balloons took off from Lydden Hill Race Circuit and landed in Calais. Some 50 started the journey but one had to touchdown before leaving Kent due to technical problems.

A high-profile attempt to smash the record in 2017 succeeded with around 100 balloons but - and it's a big but - organisers hadn't lodged the bid with Guinness World Records first so it failed to take the title. Doh!

Fright night

Sometimes you wonder just how world records are decided. In 1989, Pluckley, near Ashford, was named the most haunted village in England. Quite how that is proved is anyone's guess.

But apparently the 12 spooks the village boasts put it top of the table. Perhaps not entirely unsurprising is that the category has since been "rested" meaning it is no longer maintained.

Mind you, while that's been rested, the category for 'most milkshake dispensed through the nose' is still up for grabs. And if you're wondering, that's achieved by some lad in the US who mixed milk and chocolate powder in his mouth before squirting 55 millilitres of chocolate milkshake out of his nostrils. Charming.

Age is beauty

When tapir Kingut was born on January 29, 1978, at Ragunan Zoo in Jakarta, he would have been given some odd looks if he had vowed to make a Guinness World Record.

But, strange things happen in this life whether you’re man or beast.

After being transferred first to Howletts, near Canterbury, he was moved to Port Lympne, near Hythe, in 2008. And it was there, earlier this year, he was presented with his certificate for being the oldest tapir in captivity after passing his 41st birthday.

Keeping on the rails

Folkestone firm Bigjigs Toys knows a thing or two about wooden toys, so it perhaps fitting it holds the record for the longest wooden train track.

Teaming up with Birmingham-based engineering and design company the Arup Group it comfortably eclipsed the previous record with a track which stretched some 3,395metres.

The track took a team of excited rail engineers and volunteers three hours to lay and a further hour to push a train along the track to verify the distance.

Two's company

Sometimes, you can go to an awful lot of effort in pursuit of a place in the record books - only to see your efforts eclipsed soon after.

So, imagine how former University of Kent students John Whybrow and George Agate must have felt.

In 2016 they set off from Canterbury on a charity tandem ride around the world. Some 18,000 miles and 290 days later they returned having completed their mission, collecting their world record as they did so.

However, in May of this year, two British doctors, now living in Australia, went one better - shaving seven days off the time and taking the record for themselves.

MISSES

Sprouting contempt

The humble brussel sprout divides audiences. Plenty of us think they are delicious - everyone else can't stand them.

Trying to break the world record for eating the most of them in one minute was, then, going to be a struggle.

Veg UK Ltd, based at Cherry Trees Farm in Ham, near Deal, teamed up with The Crown Inn in Finglesham in a bid to be crowned the masters of the festive favourite.

The group aimed to beat a record set by Linus Urbanec of Sweden in 2008, when he ate 31 cooked Brussels in one minute - using only a cocktail stick and swallowing one at a time. They didn't.

Running into trouble

Poor old Lukas Bates. The Maidstone runner was hoping to return from the London Marathon earlier this year with the title of the fastest marathon dressed as a landmark building (well who wouldn't?) under his belt.

But as he approached the finishing line knowing he was some 30 minutes short of the record, he then found fame of a different variety as the top of his costume snagged on the top of the finishing line and he had to be helped under. Not that it damaged his fundraising effort - the additional publicity saw him exceed his charity target.

Where's Steve?

Unless you've been hiding in the Ramsgate tunnels for the last few years, you cannot have avoided the remarkable success story of video game Minecraft or, more recently, Fortnite.

So when the video game knees-up MineVention came to Dreamland in Margate earlier this year, organisers looked to break the Guinness World Record of people dressed up as Minecraft's main character, Steve.

It looked to eclipse the record of 337 at a MineVention event in Peterborough four years ago. Strangely, encouraging hundreds of people to stick a block head on in Margate wasn't a success and the bid failed.

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