Go, baby, go — two-month-old Otto Frantz will be able to say he beat a world record before he could walk. With Otto comfortable in his stroller, his dad, Silas, pushed him while running a mile, beating a world record for the feat.
The Guinness World Record for running a mile while pushing a stroller is 4 minutes, 41 seconds and 83 milliseconds. Silas Frantz ran it in 4 minutes, 26 seconds and 29 milliseconds.
“A mid-4:30 pace doesn’t seem impossible even with a stroller,” Frantz said. “As soon as he was born I was like, ‘this is totally going to happen at some point.’ I think it’s really fun to do something fun together — even this early in his life.”
On June 24, community members came to the Central Coast Athletics Foundation’s All-Comers Meet at Arroyo Grande High School to support Silas.
Greg Scott brought his children to the meet so they could compete and watch Frantz attempt to break the record.
“I think it's fun for the kids to see anybody trying to push their limits and push the limits of people around them,” Scott said. “We like our kids to be able to be part of things that help them grow and challenge themselves and so it’s fun to see other people challenge themselves and push.”
Frantz says running at a community event helps keep the pressure down and make it a fun experience for everyone involved.
“I think this event is great because there’s a lot of kids and people can get stoked and it’s like a whole family event,” he said.
Silas says running with his dad seems to be one of Otto's favorite activities.
“He likes the stroller,” Frantz said. “Even when we’re hitting lots of bumps on the [Bob Jones Trail], he’s still pretty happy, usually. Very curious… He likes public places and he likes looking around and he likes action.”
To be the official record holder, Silas submitted a video of his race to Guinness for them to verify his time. According to Guinness, it could take up to 12 weeks to hear back.
Onlookers say watching it happen was incredible.
“Oh, it was super fun,” Scott said. “Silas is a great runner. He ran really smoothly. It was really fun and I’ve done a little stroller running myself and it’s a lot harder than running normally. His pace is incredible to do that with a stroller.”
