Dave Cornthwaite arrives in Brisbane on his skateboard Elsa following a record-breaking journey across Australia. Photograph: Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images
British skateborder Dave Cornthwaite's epic trek around Australia is the latest in a recent spate of seemingly random acts of endurance.
Dave earned his place in the record books today after completing the longest ever journey on a skateboard - travelling 5,820km (3,638 miles) around Australia. Unfortunately, he can't also claim to be carbon neutral as - like David Cameron - he had an entourage trailing behind him.
His feat comes in the wake of a team of four blokes who became the first people since 1958 to journey to the centre of Antartica - where they found a bust of Lenin - and 14-year-old Michael Perham becoming the youngest person to sail the Atlantic singlehanded.
While all three are remarkable achievements, they also prompt the question why? There are surely less time-consuming - and more lucrative - ways to raise money for charity. And if - like Dave - you want a book deal you're more likely to get that by sleeping with a reality TV star. (Although after Jade Goody's behaviour on Celebrity Big Brother, hanging out with a bunch of giant Huntsman spiders in Australia might be the less perilous path to fame.)
From his blog, Dave's view of such extreme expeditions seems to be why not? "BoardFree changed my life, it gave me a new life," he writes. "Can you get any better than that?" But is this just seeking experience for experience sake? Or should we celebrate a return to the spirit of exploration that built the British empire?
Before we dismiss these exploits, is it worth considering there are far more ridiculous records you could choose to break. For example, this Friday, a Kiwi farmer will attempt to break the world ewe-shearing record. Although at least that serves some useful purpose, unlike say the world record for wearing as many shirts as possible or the one for opening beer bottles with a helicopter.
How far would you go to get yourself in the Guiness Book of Records?
