Faith Patricia Ariokot, 29, wrapped her arms around a tree trunk for 16 hours and 6 seconds to become the first official record holder.
Faith Patricia Ariokot, 29, wrapped her arms around a tree trunk for 16 hours and 6 seconds to become the first official record holder.
An environmental activist from Kampala, Uganda, has set a world record for the longest time hugging a tree.
Faith Patricia Ariokot, 29, wrapped her arms around a tree trunk for 16 hours and 6 seconds to become the first official record holder.
She attempted this challenge to encourage others to plant trees and to emphasize the need for people to protect them.
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“They are the biggest soldiers in the fight against climate change,” Faith said.
Faith smiling while hugging a tree
Faith says choosing a tree to hug for this record attempt “felt like choosing a wedding dress”.
“The tree chose me and it was like love at first sight,” she explained. “When I saw that tree, I knew it was the one I was going to go for.
This record differs slightly from ‘longest marathon’ records, such as the longest cooking marathon, where challengers accumulate five minutes of rest after each continuous hour of activity.
Record attempts are only considered “marathons” if they last longer than 24 hours.
So Faith was not allowed to take any breaks – she was not allowed to take her hands off the tree at any point and had to stand for the duration of the record attempt.
“My legs were killing me for over 16 hours straight,” he recalls.
“The tree, with its rough surface, cut into the skin and caused a lot of pain to say the least, and yet I had to hold on.
It was the third time in a month that Faith had attempted the record, as her camera missed much of her first attempt and her second attempt was cut short due to a thunderstorm.
Within an hour, Faith was considering quitting, discouraged by the previous two failures.
In the ninth hour, she admits she “broke down” and wanted to give up, but says she persevered when the tree comforted her: “I believe trees really feel and can sense what we’re going through. It gave me the comfort I needed to keep going.”
Faith now hopes that anyone who reads about her record, wherever they are in the world, will be inspired to go out and plant a tree.
I want to talk about love. Love for the planet. Love of the Earth. Love for each other. There is no other planet we can ever call home. And one easy way you can show your love for the Earth today is by planting a tree.
