When Adam Leyton woke up in Germany on May 25, he had a busy day ahead of him: the Brit was off to break the Guinness World Record for the most number of countries visited in 24 hours using only scheduled transportation (meaning he couldn't drive his own car or take a taxi).
The previous record was set in 1993, and covered 11 countries in 22 hours and 10 minutes.
Leyton managed to visit 12 countries in 23 hours and 52 minutes — running the last 2.5 miles with about 30 minutes left on the clock.
Leyton told INSIDER in an email that he spent hours poring over train, bus, and plane schedules in order to create the most efficient itinerary possible.
He started his quest in Germany, and knocked out France, Luxembourg, and Belgium in rapid succession.
Those first four countries were some of the trickiest, Leyton said, because the connections were tight and the trains were often late. "Thankfully all the research paid off and everything went so well on the day that I ticked those four countries off in under an hour and 20 minutes!" Leyton said.
Leyton planed, trained, bussed, and ran his way through Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Austria, in that order.
"I only had two hours sleep. I had to wake in the middle of the night to make sure I stepped off the night train at one of its stops in the Czech Republic," Leyton explained.
Leyton literally sprinted to the finish line — he ran about 2.5 miles from Slovakia to Hungary, and then to the Austrian border, finishing at 6:53 am with eight minutes to spare.
"Although I didn't see much of the places I passed through," Leyton admits, "I've always enjoyed travel, and this seemed like a great challenge." He also attached his journey to a worthy cause, raising money for Sands, a stillbirth and neonatal death charity.
Watch Leyton's video diary below, and check out his blog 12in24.co.uk.
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