INC charity walk breaks another world record

MANILA, Philippines - The Worldwide Walk of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) for Super Typhoon Yolanda survivors last Saturday has broken another world record: the largest charity walk in a 24-hour continuous worldwide walk in multiple venues.

Kristy Bennet, Guinness World Record adjudicator, made the announcement to the media at the Diamond Hotel in Pasay City yesterday.

“Thirteen time zones, 29 countries, 24 hours... Iglesia ni Cristo reached a number and that number is 519,521 participants,” she said.

“On behalf of Guinness I’d like to award Iglesia ni Cristo for the largest charity walk in 24 hours multiple venue. Congratulations, you are officially amazing again.” 

The title was taken from the Green Communities in Canada that had 231,635 participants who walked for a minimum of one kilometer at 1,011 different locations in Canada on Oct. 2, 2007.

For the Worldwide Walk, the INC identified 140 sites, including Metro Manila for the multiple sites category: 85 sites are in the Philippines and 55   in other countries - 34 in the United States, six in Europe, 10 in Australia, and five in Asia.

INC event spokesman Edwil Zabala said the 24-hour continuous walk started in New Zealand at 2 a.m. Philippine time Saturday and ended in Hawaii at 1 a.m. Philippine time yesterday.

Earlier, Guinness awarded the INC Walk as the new record holder of the biggest charity walk in a single venue, with 175,000 INC members pouring into Roxas Boulevard in Manila.

The event beat Singapore’s The New Paper Big Walk 2000 that had 77,500 participants on May 21, 2000.

“INC, you are officially amazing,” Bennet said when she announced the result at the Quirino Grandstand Saturday night.

The INC’s Worldwide Walk started at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and ended at the footbridge along Roxas Boulevard near the US  embassy.

Participants bought special white T-shirts each costing P250 to wear during the march, with all the proceeds donated to help Yolanda victims.

Zabala said the walk intended to “collect extra funds to continue helping   survivors of the super typhoon, of which the primary beneficiaries would be members of the church in the Visayas region.”