Any ordinary person can set a world record.
That was the philosophy of RecordSetter, a group that brought 29 people to Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe Thursday night to set the world record for the most people to share a single chimichanga.
RecordSetter founders Dan Rollman and Corey Henderson, dressed in matching yellow blazers, came to Arizona from New York to judge the event and promote their latest book, “The RecordSetter Book of World Records.”
On recordsetter.com, anyone can submit a video of themself breaking a world record, either one they created or one already set.
Of the 10,000 world records collected by Rollman and Henderson over the past five years, the chimichanga event was the first to take place in Arizona.
The 17-inch chimichanga, provided by the Tempe restaurant Macayo’s, was packed with rice, refried beans, jalapeños, shredded cheese, Macayo’s signature Baja sauce and pico de gallo.
“It tastes better when you are setting a world record,” chimichanga participant and Tempe resident Cliff Puckett said.
Rollman encouraged everyone to participate, even bookstore employees and customers.
A person with the most shoulder giraffe tattoos is among the offbeat RecordSetters featured in the new book.
Rollman said that record started with an Australian man, Daniel Fowler, who had one giraffe tattoo. A San Diego man challenged him by getting three giraffe tattoos. Fowler responded by getting three more, upping his count to four.
“That’s the spirit of record setting,” Rollman said.
The ideas get more outrageous every day, Rollman and Henderson said.
Macayo’s CEO Sharisse Johnson was present at the event to promote the campaign to make the chimichanga Arizona’s state food.
“It feels pretty incredible. I never thought this day would come,” said Colin Bennett, Macayo’s spokesman and one of the chimichanga record setters.
Reach the reporter at thaniab@asu.edu
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