DonnaJean Wilde Holds Five Hour Plank at Utah Games

DonnaJean Wilde, a 61-year-old retired schoolteacher from Alberta, Canada, completed a five-hour abdominal plank on October 6 at the Huntsman World Senior Games in Utah, surpassing her previous women's world record. Guinness World Records has received an application for the new attempt but must review the evidence before officially recognizing the result.

Wilde's latest performance exceeded her previous record of 4 hours, 30 minutes and 11 seconds, which she established on March 21, 2024, according to Guinness World Records and ABC News. The five-hour effort would give the mother of five and grandmother of 12 another milestone in her endurance pursuits if approved.

According to World Senior Games, the attempt began at 3:03 p.m. Mountain Time and concluded at 8:03 p.m. Judges rotated every hour throughout the event.

Wilde said she had long wondered whether she could extend her previous performance to five hours. The audience's encouragement became especially important during the final stretch of the challenge.

Some judges joined the crowd in encouraging Wilde throughout the attempt, she told ABC News.

Wilde described a moment when she nearly stopped, telling her husband, Randy, that she was ready to quit. The crowd's support helped her continue through the final minutes.

She recalled, "I told [my husband] Randy, 'I'm done. I'm going down.' And they [the audience] all chanted me to the end. They got me through the last 10 minutes," Wilde said, according to ABC News.

Her preparation included an unusual family-assisted workout. Wilde trained by holding planks while her 3-year-old granddaughter, Rose, lay on her back, according to ABC News.

Wilde began incorporating planks into her routine more than a decade ago after breaking her wrist. In an interview with USA TODAY in 2024, she explained that the exercise allowed her to remain active while wearing a cast and continuing her schoolwork.

"I found that I could read my school lessons and mark some papers and read emails … I felt like I was working out even with a cast and I loved the feeling it gave me," Wilde told USA TODAY in 2024.

Her interest in the exercise grew into a regular training habit, and her family encouraged her to pursue a world record. Before her 2024 achievement, she combined extended plank sessions with running, skipping and weightlifting, while also reading motivational books about how athletes prepared mentally for competition.

Wilde's five-hour attempt did not end her participation in the Utah games. According to ABC News and USA TODAY, she ran in a 3,000-meter track event the following morning.

If Guinness World Records validates the latest performance, Wilde will have another title to add to her existing achievements. She already holds the women's longest abdominal plank record and a separate record for completing 1,575 pushups in one hour.

Wilde has also identified another goal: completing at least 1,600 pushups in an hour to surpass her existing mark. Guinness World Records has not yet confirmed whether her latest plank attempt qualifies as a new official record.