Guinness Book of World Record Holder, Michael Coyne, uses Pocket Radar™ for New Luge World Record Attempt

Pocket Radar™ was recently contacted by a current world record holder looking for a training tool that would help in achieving a new luge world record.  Michael Coyne, Team Leader for Expedition Outreach, set the Guinness Book World Record for the Highest Altitude Luge run down Mount Chacaltaya in Bolivia from 17,200 feet altitude on July 18th, 1996.  In August of this year he has plans of setting the Guinness Book World Record for the fastest ‘Alpine’ face first luge.  He and his wife Serenity, aka ‘Cheetah Girl,’ will head together to Iceland with the Expedition Outreach team to witness Michael’s attempt at becoming the fastest person on earth using an ‘Alpine’ Skeleton style sled.

Here is a little more information provided to us on Michael and Serenity, and the endurance and courage they have shown to be where they are today.

Lifelong mountain sport athletes, their love for each other & sense of adventure takes them on expeditions all over the world raising money & awareness for charity & fighting heart disease which took Michael’s father when he was young: Climbing snow, rock & ice & sending first ascents in Alaska & Bolivia, setting Guinness Book World Records on the Luge sled, snow shoeing & ski boarding first descents in remote mountainous areas along with river running & SCUBA diving.

Recently Michael had massive heart failure due an ‘assault’ on the job as a Massachusetts State Trooper. Michael was devastated with an ejection fraction of 15, a measurement of how much oxygen leaves the heart in his blood, he was told that he had roughly five years to live & couldn’t climb to altitude or SCUBA dive to depth again. Serenity who is training for her first Ironman began training him like a triathlete. Less than 2 years later Michael’s ejection fraction is 45, nearly normal, something that his cardiologist thought was highly unlikely to happen.

“When I was told that I only had roughly 5 years left Serenity & I immediately planned the next 4 expeditions we were going on. We call these our Wild Heart Expeditions which begin in Iceland in 2013 then onto Costa Rica, New Zealand & Finally Africa”.

Expeditions take a tremendous amount of time & effort to make them look easy, planning takes up to a year & packing the right equipment is critical. Mountaineers have a saying, light is right, & when we go light we find safety in speed. What I like best about working with Pocket Radar is how compact & light weight it is, you can literally carry this anywhere to get accurate readings.  I got one because of my Icelandic expedition/documentary Guinness Book World Record Skeleton Sled attempt this year but I have been using it while snowboarding & skiing as well. This is a tool that gives you feedback on your performance, whatever your activity & this is just what we need to improve sports performance.

We would like to wish Michael the best of luck in his upcoming World Record attempt this upcoming August, and we will continue to monitor his progess and keep you updated on his amazing journey.

Please check out the Expedition Outreach website at www.expeditionoutreach.org to learn more, or follow them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ExpeditionOutreach.

Michael reminds us to remember that when faced with adversity, a ‘life’ challenge, or just a tough day at work, all you need are three things to succeed, Courage, Focus & a ‘Passionate’ Wild Heart!