Organizers confident new record set but await official world from Guinness World Records
June 30, 2017•Update: June 30, 2017
By Magdalene Mukami.
NAIROBI
More than 3,000 Kenyans gathered Thursday on the campus of Kenyatta University to attempt to break the Guinness world record for most people shaving at the same location at the same time.
The current record was set in 2015 by 2,374 participants in Mexico.
Organizers in Nairobi armed the mostly male students with razors, warm water, shaving gels and towels in preparation for the event monitored by judges from the Guinness Book of World Records.
“I am here to make history,” participant John Maina told Anadolu Agency as he applied a coat of shaving cream to his chin. “I will look back to this day and say that I was there and I helped in breaking the world record.”
Maina said he had always been curious about how to shave without getting razor bumps, shaving acne or inflammation around the chin area.
Participants were given a demonstration on the proper way to shave – a presentation that appeared to surprise Maina.
“All this time I have been doing it wrong but today I have learnt … we have all learned,” he said pointing to the thousands of others seated behind him on stations prepared for the event.
Organizers set up 3,000 stations but some would-be participants were denied entry because of space.
Evanson Mwaniki, an organizer, told Anadolu Agency he is sure a new record had been set but would have to wait for official confirmation in five days from the Guinness World Records headquarters.
“We made the attempt with over 3,000 registered participants. We were trying to beat the number of 2,340 set by Gillette in Mexico and we brought in all the young people from Kenyatta University to try and beat that record and show them how to shave,” he said.
