The world records set in Wales and by Welsh people around the world

Wales is known internationally for its amazing medieval castles, protected dark sky reserves and beautiful stretches of coastline, but the country has some lesser-aired claims to fame too. Wales is home to the planet’s oldest record store, for example, and is also the country where the world’s longest continuous unicycle ride took place.

In fact, despite Wales having a relatively small population of around three million people, it turns out we Welsh are slightly obsessed with breaking records, which range from personal feats of athleticism on tracks and trails to collective efforts to preserve and maintain history-making monuments and venues.

Here are a selection of the world records associated with Wales, and those set by Welsh people around the world.

One of Wales’ most famous locations when it comes to record breaking is Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire, West Wales. During the 1920s, the 7 mile (11km) length of beach was used for several land speed record attempts, with the beach’s hard-packed sand considered to boast a sturdier surface than many roads at the time. 

The first driver to break the land speed record on Pendine Sands was Malcolm Campbell, who reached a speed of 146.16 miles per hour (235.22km/h), while driving the first iteration of his car Blue Bird in 1924. Over the following years, the record was broken a handful more times by Campbell and his great rival, the Welshman, JG Parry-Thomas, driving his car Babs. 

The enthralling contest between the men came to a skidding halt, however, when Parry-Thomas was killed during another attempt to break the record in 1927. His car, Babs, was left buried in the sands of the beach until it was excavated in 1969. It is now displayed on a rotating basis at The Museum of Land Speed, which overlooks the famed stretch of coast.

Though no further land speed records have been set on Pendine Sands in conventional motor cars since Parry-Thomas’s death, other feats of fast driving have been undertaken on the beach, including the setting of the world record for the fastest travelling lawn mower in 2010, which hit a top speed of 87.8 miles per hour (141.3km/h). Fittingly, this record was set by Don Wales, the grandson of Malcolm Campbell – the man who initially propelled Pendine Sands to global fame.

Wales has a long history of competitive running that begins with the 18th-century figure of Guto Nyth Brân. According to legend, Guto was so fast he could run from his parent’s farm near Porth to the town of Pontypridd and back, a distance of just over 7 miles (11km), in the time it took his mother to boil the kettle. The Nos Galan Road Race, an annual running event held on New Year’s Eve in the town of Mountain Ash, is named in the speedy Welshman’s honour.

Mythical feats of endurance aside, Wales has seen a number of records being broken on the trail and on the track. In 2011, Lizzy Hawker set the women’s world record for the 24 hour running race, when she notched up 153 miles (247km) on a track in Llandudno during the Commonwealth Mountain and Ultra Distance Championships. At the other end of the distance spectrum, Charlotte Arter recorded what was, at the time, the fastest ever 5k parkrun time by a female runner while participating in a parkrun event in the Welsh capital, Cardiff, in 2020 (with an incredible time of 15 minutes 49 seconds).

Welsh athletes have also recorded impressive milestones when competing abroad. Chief among them is Steve Jones, from the town of Ebbw Vale, who set the then world record time to complete a marathon when he crossed the line at the Chicago Marathon, in the US, in a time of 2:08:05. It was the first marathon the athlete had ever run. Jones also briefly held the half marathon record, which he set in Birmingham, England in 1985, with a time of just over one hour – apparently while hungover! Welsh athlete Rosie Swale-Pope took things one step further on the distance scale, when she became the first woman to run around the world (traversing the entire northern hemisphere of the planet).

Celebrated Welsh hurdler, Colin Jackson, also famously set a world record overseas in dramatic fashion, when he broke the men's 110-metre hurdles world record during the 1993 World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, in a final that is considered one of the greatest hurdle races in history.

For all our athletic prowess and endurance abilities, we Welsh are equally drawn to a little whimsy, as a few of the stranger records set in Wales attest to.

Take the record for the longest amount of time spent lying on a bed of nails, which is held by Welshman Ken Owen, who spent 300 hours spread horizontally on a painful pointed pallet. Then there’s the record for the world’s deepest underground rave, which was set at Cwmorthin Slate Mine in Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park, during a 2026 event hosted 419 metres (1,375ft) below the surface. In addition to this, Welsh people hold the world records for the most heads shaved in one hour by an individual (75 heads) and the world record for the most films watched by a single person (28,074 films).

Fittingly, Wales is also home to a number of records revolving around Welsh culture and traditions. This includes the record for the world’s largest Welsh cake, which measured over 1.8 metres (5.9ft) in diameter and weighed a whopping 28kg (4.4 stone), and the record for the largest Welsh folk dance, when 287 participants took part in a traditional twmpath at Pennard Primary School in the city of Swansea.

There are, however, some Welsh records that hold a greater resonance than others. These include the fact that, in 2019, Wales became the first country in the world to declare a climate emergency, and, before that, the first nation to implement legislation to protect the wellbeing of future generations – both of which aim to ensure Welsh people have the opportunity to continue making history for many years to come.

Here is a – non-exhaustive – list of the world records set in Wales and by Welsh people around the world:

Land speed record driving a car

Malcolm Campbell and JG Parry-Thomas both broke the land speed record several times over during the 1920s on Pendine Sands in Carmarthenshire. Malcolm Campbell was the last to do so in 1927, reaching a speed of 174.22 miles per hour (280km/h). 

Land speed record driving a lawn mower

The grandson of Malcolm Campbell set the land speed record for the world’s fastest lawn mower when he clocked a top speed of 87.8 miles per hour (141.3km/h) on Pendine Sands in 2010. The run was preceded by a grass-cutting display to prove the vehicle still functioned as a lawn mower.

Furthest distance covered in a 24 hour race by a female

Lizzy Hawker ran over 153 miles (247km) in 24 hours during the Commonwealth Mountain and Ultra Distance Championships in Llandudno in 2011.

Fastest 5k parkrun time by a female

Charlotte Arter broke the existing 5k parkrun world record time in 2020, when she ran the 5k route around Bute Park in central Cardiff in 15 minutes and 49 seconds.

Fastest marathon time

Welshman Steve Jones set a world record for the fastest time taken to run a full marathon when he finished the Chicago Marathon, in the USA, with a time of 2:08:05 back in 1984.

Fastest 110-metre hurdles time

Welsh athlete Colin Jackson broke the men's 110-metre hurdles when he recorded a time of 12.91 seconds at the 1993 World Athletics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.

Most musicians to play a single double bass at the same time

This unusual musical record was set in Cardiff by BBC National Orchestra of Wales in 2000. Gathered around a single double bass, 22 members of the orchestra played the instrument together in a rendition of Maurice Ravel's Bolero.

Youngest male videogame developer

Max Baker, from Penarth in South Wales, became the world’s youngest video game developer when he created the five-level platformer game Gravity Parkour 2.0 a few days before he turned 11 years old.

Fastest female time to pull a narrow-gauge steam train with two people

Sam Taylor and Sue Taylor-Franklin took the record in 2025 when they pulled a historic steam train on the Llanberis Lake Railway a distance of 20 metres (65.6ft) in 40.53 seconds. 

Longest career for a football referee 

Ken Wright, from Swansea, holds the world record for the longest career as a football referee, having officiated for 63 consecutive seasons, totalling over 5,000 matches, since starting refereeing in 1964 at age 15. 

Most weight lifted by atlas stone lifts in one minute

Jason Jones set a new world record in the Welsh city of Wrexham in 2022 when he completed 10 consecutive lifts of a 115kg atlas stone in one minute – lifting a total weight of 1,150kg.

Fastest time to wrap five portions of chips

The record for the fastest time to wrap five portions of chips was set by Zohaib Hussain at Zero Plus Fish Bar in Canton, Cardiff, in 2022. Zohaib took just over 40 seconds to complete the task.

Most films watched by an individual

Even the most passionate cinephile’s ‘watched list’ will appear puny in comparison to that of Gwilym Hughes from Dolgellau in North Wales. Gwilym, who said he watched up to 14 movies each week, managed to sit through 28,074 films during his lifetime.

World’s deepest underground rave

The record was set at Cwmorthin Slate Mine in Eryri (Snowdonia) National Park, during a 2026 event hosted 419 metres (1,375ft) below the surface. Participants at the rave had to undertake a two-hour descent to reach the dancefloor.

Longest continuous unicycle ride without touching the ground

In 2007, Sam Wakeling set a world record by cycling his unicycle for 105.5 miles (169.9km) around the Welsh town of Aberystwyth, without stopping or letting his feet touch the ground.

Most heads shaved in one hour by an individual

Barber Sam Ryan managed to shave 75 people’s heads in one hour to take the world record, which was set in a village on the Gower Peninsula, West Wales, in 2015.

First woman to travel across the Atlantic Ocean in a plane

Legendary aviator Amelia Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic Ocean on a plane when she served as part of the flight crew on the Friendship, which touched down from its transatlantic crossing at Burry Port in West Wales in 1928.

The first female to run around the world

Though definitions differ on what constitutes a “world run” (with some claiming a runner must cross the equator to achieve the feat), Rosie Swale-Pope from Tenby is widely regarded as being the first woman to run around the world, when she completed her five-year loop around the planet’s northern hemisphere in 2008. 

First country to declare a climate emergency

With the global climate crisis reaching a critical state, Wales became the first country in the world to formally declare a climate emergency in 2019, leading other countries, including Ireland, Canada and France, to do the same. 

First country to safeguard the rights of future generations

In a pioneering piece of legislation, the Welsh Government enshrined the Well-being of Future Generations Act into law in 2015, the first law in existence that focused on protecting the wellbeing of those yet to be born. 

Oldest shop selling records

Spillers, in Cardiff, is the world’s oldest record store still in operation, having been running continuously in the city since 1894.

Oldest operational narrow-gauge steam locomotive

Running on the historic Ffestiniog Railway in North Wales, the oldest operation narrow-gauge steam locomotive is an engine called Prince, which was built in 1863. Despite a number of refurbishments, the train is still carrying passengers today.

The world’s first preserved railway

A former commercial slate railway, the Talyllyn Railway, which runs 7.25 miles (11.6 km) through the Fathew Valley in North Wales, was the first stretch of railway to be preserved and used as a tourist attraction, opening to the public in 1951.

Largest Welsh cake

The largest Welsh cake in history was made in Carmarthen, West Wales, in 2020, ahead of annual St David’s Day celebrations. The colossal cake measured over 1.8 metres (5.9ft) in diameter and weighed 28kg (4.4 stone).

The largest Welsh folk dance

The largest Welsh folk dance, or twmpath, on record took place at Pennard Primary School in the city of Swansea in 2020, with a total of 287 participants taking part.

Most candles extinguished by jump heel clicks in one minute

Welsh clog dancer Tudur Phillips managed to extinguish 55 candles within a minute, when he set the record in Swansea in 2020.