Phillip Espinoza, of the Mesa Grande Indian Reservation in San Diego, is planning to break the Guinness World Record for the most amount of Rubik’s Cubes solved while running 26.2 miles at the Revel Canyon City Marathon. The record currently stands at 175 meaning that Phillip must solve at least 35 Rubik’s Cubes per hour while running the marathon in under 5 hours, as Guinness stipulates the attempt must be done in that time frame in order to count.

This should be no problem for Phillip, who is a world-class “speedcuber”, meaning he can solve the Rubik’s Cube in an average of less than 10 seconds. He has held national records for solving the puzzle before and was once ranked 6^th fastest speedcuber in the world. So, his goal for this record attempt? A whopping 1,000 Rubik’s Cubes.

While most of us cannot fathom being able to solve even 1 Rubik’s Cube, Phillip is planning to solve 1,000 cubes while running for 5 hours. “It’s going to be a challenge for sure, and even a little dangerous”, says the Ironman Coeur d’Alene finisher and Ultramarathon Runner. “You have to have a lot of core strength to keep the cube as steady as possible and the ability to solve almost without thinking about it, in order to pay attention to where you are going.”

Phillip, who has been solving Rubik’s Cubes as a hobby for 9 years, has put together a crew of 4 of his close cubing friends who will help him attempt the record. “They will be accompanying me during the marathon via pedicab or golf cart and will be helping me by scrambling cubes and collecting my solved ones in a constant cycle of about 10-15 Rubik’s Cubes. This will be much easier than trying to buy and carry 1,000 Rubik’s Cubes along the course.”

Being able to solve Rubik’s Cubes with such speed is amazing by itself, but Phillip also has to be able to comfortably run a marathon in under 5 hours (an 11:13 min/mile pace for you runners). No worries though, as having competed in a race where he did 112 miles on a bike and 2.4 miles swimming, all before tackling a sub-5 marathon, it seems like running the marathon itself might be the easiest part of the attempt.”Well, I’m hoping the distraction of solving Rubik’s Cubes will make the marathon seem a lot easier or shorter. I’m really just worried about sweating all over the cubes!”

Phillip is a 2011 graduate of UCSD with a BA in Political Science and currently works for the American Diabetes Association in San Diego as their Native American Outreach Coordinator. He is currently raising funds for his record attempt and also to help a non-profit that centers on helping Native American Youth gain access to college via an after-school enrichment program. Visit www.gofundme.com/RubiksRunRecord for more information or to help support Phillip in his record attempt.embark upon this Spirit Run of 90 miles, both for personal and cultural reasons. I believe that in doing this run, with what it represents, I will be better fit to meet problems I am faced with in the future, knowing that I have some glimpse of this ancestral understanding of the world that has led to the survival of our People todayJoe Espinoza and Catherine Soto, of the Mesa Grande Band of Mission IndiansJoe Espinoza and Catherine Soto, of the Mesa Grande Band of Mission Indians