Although the Isle of Man fell short of its ambitious target of 3,486 participants needed to break the Guinness World Record for the world's largest Pilates class, the community still made history at Knockaloe on Sunday.
People travelled from across the island and beyond to the historic site, with 20% of people travelling from as far as America, where Pilates founder Joseph Pilates was interned during the First World War, with the shared aim of celebrating the discipline's Manx connections and attempting a world record.
Experienced yogi, Jim Sumner said: ‘It's just a really interesting piece of trivia, it's something I never knew before. It’s wonderful to know, and wonderful to be here.’
While the attendance was not enough to secure the largest Pilates class title, participants did achieve a Guinness World Record for the most people performing the ‘standing roll down exercise’ simultaneously for one minute, comfortably surpassing the previous record of 250 participants.
Chief Minister Alfred Cannan said: ‘It's always fantastic when somebody innovates in such a way to bring so many people from across the community together.
‘There's always a sense of community cohesion, a sense of challenge in doing so, and I think you know it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable day out.’
Despite narrowly missing the headline record, the event was widely regarded as a success, bringing together hundreds of people to celebrate the island's unique place in Pilates history while setting a new Guinness World Record in the process.
Mayor of Douglas Steve Crellin added: ‘You’ve just got to look at where it's being held, Knockaloe.
‘At the end of the day, it's where it all started, it's great that we've had so many people come down, the vendors, the people themselves, and the fact that so many people turned up just specifically for the Pilates, which is absolutely brilliant.’
