A more than a quarter of a century old running event on the South Coast which raises money to help crime victims has a major new twist this year. What’s known as the “State Street Mile” in Santa Barbara will include an officially sanctioned Guinness World Record Attempt for the world’s largest group backwards walk.
The official race to benefit the Santa Barbara County District Attorney’s Victim Witness Assistance Program begins at 8 a.m. Sunday, at State and Pedregosa Streets. Runners will leave the starting line in staggered groups by age, and then specific categories like families.
Then, at the finish line at State and De La Guerra Streets, the world record attempt will start at 11 a.m. Participants will walk backwards up State Street for about seven blocks.
The goal is to break the current world record of just over 1100 people walking a kilometer backwards, which was set in India in 2014.
