Morrow again does 2,000 push-ups for charity
Originally Posted Online: April 30, 2011, 7:36 pm Last Updated: April 30, 2011, 7:56 pm
By Jonathan Turner, jturner@qconline.com
DAVENPORT — John Morrow of Morrow's Academy of Martial Arts already owns the five-year-old world record for most push-ups done on backs of hands in a minute (123). With dozens of people chanting his name Saturday at the end of an hour at St. Ambrose University's Lee Lohman Arena, the strong 59-year-old completed 2,000 of those push-ups in an hour. It was Mr. Morrow's seventh attempt to break the Guinness World Record of 1,940 back-of-hands push-ups set by Paddy Doyle in England, on Nov. 8, 2007, and was the second annual "Push-Ups for Peace," to benefit the Children's Therapy Center of the Quad-Cities, Kids Against Hunger and the Make-A-Wish Foundation. While Saturday's event included many others doing push-ups (the traditional way) along with Mr. Morrow, it fell far short of the Guinness World Record for the largest group of people doing push-ups in one place for one hour (which is 250). "He's very inspirational. He's the greatest — he's always doing stuff for the community," said Bill Spain, of Davenport, a friend of Mr. Morrow who consistently cheered the loudest for him and often yelled, "You can do it!" "I'm just here to support him," Mr. Spain said. "I was there when he set the record for push-ups in a minute. He's incredible." Heart-pounding pop music blared from speakers — including the theme from "Rocky" and "Eye of the Tiger" — as Mr. Morrow and others went about their grueling physical task. Mr. Morrow, who did his annual spring fast for 41 days to prepare for the event, quickly would execute 33 or 34 push-ups on a towel and sit on a nearby chair for the remainder of each minute, soothed by his wife Katie. His daughter, Jennifer, served as host and cheerleader with a mic for the event. A whistle marked the start of each minute. Davenport Mayor Bill Gluba took part for the first time, and typically did a handful of push-ups per minute. "It's good for the community," he said. In addition to supporting good causes, it fits with Davenport's participation in the national "Let's Move" anti-obesity campaign, Mayor Gluba said, noting he was also there to support the primary sponsor, the Davenport Morning Optimist Club. "It shows what a great community the Quad-Cities is," he added. Mr. Morrow — who did 2,100 back-hand push-ups last year, which was rejected as a record by Guinness — said he began doing the alternate push-ups in the 1970s, after being ordered by his instructor, to test his strength. He also would do push-ups on his knuckles, he said. Last year, he started "Push-Ups for Peace" to make his record attempt more meaningful and help people in the community — "to make it useful," Mr. Morrow said. Participants are asked to seek pledges per number of push-ups they could do in one hour, with last year's proceeds going to the Children's Therapy Center and Kids Against Hunger (which made about $1,500 each). "Every single dollar counts," said W.K. Junker, development director of the Children's Therapy Center, which gets 54 percent of its $900,000 annual budget from client fees and insurance and has to make up the rest. It doesn't turn any family with need for speech, physical or occupational therapy away because of ability to pay. Since 2002, the center has seen a 126 percent increase in services provided, with last year 425 children served with 18,885 hours of therapy, Mr. Junker said. Saturday's type of fundraiser is just as important as the big ones, he said, like last weekend's telethon that raised $201,022. "It just brings out the best in people," said Bill Kessler, founder of Kids Against Hunger, which provides meals to children in Nicaragua and Honduras. Every six seconds, a child dies of hunger around the world, he told the crowd. More than money, Saturday's event is important for exposure and public awareness, said Bill Moylan, a volunteer for Make-A-Wish, which grants wishes for children with life-threatening conditions. He took martial arts lessons with Mr. Morrow 25 years ago. "It's important that with these events, I'll get a call from someone, 'I have a third-grader in such and such school,'" and more kids can be helped, Mr. Moylan said. Jim Mitchell, 44, of Davenport, did 2,030 push-ups with his three sons, Dylan, Noah and Chaz, in honor of his wife and two daughters (11 and 12), who were killed in a car crash 21 days after last year's event. "It's God's work," said Mr. Mitchell, who had a newspaper photo of himself and his 12-year-old daughter Suzanne (from last year's push-ups) on the floor during the hour. "Everybody has something to give." Spectator admission ($3 for anyone older than 5) went to support the Rock Island Word of Life food pantry.
