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Straight away, Jonathan Vero felt his physique’s temperature spike as flames unfold throughout his garments.
That was an indication to start out operating. He pumped his arms and sprinted 100 meters in 17 seconds. He continued operating after turning the curb on a French monitor and stopped after 272.25 meters, prompting his colleagues to extinguish the flames.
As a firefighter and stunt performer, Vero stated, he loves the exhilaration of being set ablaze and feels a rush each time he fits up in flame-retardant gear.
Vero’s flame-filled race in September just lately earned a Guinness World Report for the quickest 100-meter dash and the farthest run whereas on fireplace. The information have been the completion of a objective Vero, a 39-year-old resident of Lille, France, had set to show he was one of many world’s high fireplace stuntmen.
“I’m not scared about fireplace,” Vero stated. “I really like fireplace. It’s a ardour for me.”
That zeal started when he was nonetheless a toddler. As younger as 6, Vero stated, he was stealing matches and lighters from his grandparents and igniting his toy vehicles and planes of their backyard. He would examine the best way the hearth danced and adjusted colours as his toys melted into blobs.
Vero’s grandparents informed him to cease, however he saved experimenting. At age 10, Vero stated, he set a can of deodorant on fireplace and was thrilled by how excessive the flames grew.
At 18, he turned a firefighter in northern France. That’s when he stated he witnessed firsthand how fireplace might devastate a household.
“I noticed the darkish facet of the hearth, with destruction, with burned our bodies,” Vero stated. “It was actually troublesome for me to just accept this.”
He targeted on that job for practically 20 years earlier than he explored a second profession.
In 2019, Vero’s grandmother Agnes died at 89. As he grieved, Vero stated, he discovered a brand new outlet, one which reminded him of taking part in with flames as a toddler: fireplace stunts. He visited Austria to fulfill a stuntman from the Matrix sequence and was launched to a gel that, whereas flammable, can shield folks’s pores and skin throughout stunts.
Vero stated he was scared to be set on fireplace for the primary time, however after about two seconds of being engulfed in flames, his concern turned to pleasure.
In 2020, Vero began a hearth stunt firm, Ignition. He realized to juggle fireplace torches and to eat and breathe fireplace — or, a minimum of, how one can seem to. He began acting at events.
However he wished to showcase extra of his expertise. As he scrolled by the checklist of Guinness World Data final yr, he stated, he noticed there have been two flame-running information. He instantly wished to beat them.
The information have been held by a person from the UK, Antony Britton, who had sprinted 100 meters in 24.58 seconds and run 204.23 meters whereas on fireplace in October 2017. The gap operating report had modified six instances since 2009.
In Might 2022, Vero started coaching by specializing in his respiration whereas operating on fireplace. He selected a monitor in his hometown — Haubourdin, France — because the venue to shatter the report.
On Sept. 10, Vero arrived on the monitor and sketched out his path on a whiteboard in entrance of his colleagues. He jogged across the monitor in black sweats to heat up.
Then, Vero suited up within the toilet. His first layer included flame-resistant black sweatpants and a long-sleeve shirt. He lined them within the particular gel and added a second layer — a blue-and-white jumpsuit additionally smeared in gel. Vero placed on a black masks to cowl his face.
His remaining layer: his black fireplace go well with, black gloves and boots. On a series round his neck, Vero stated, he hooked up his late grandmother’s diamond ring, which he touched for good luck earlier than the run.
Within the far-left lane, Vero leaned ahead earlier than somebody set his legs on fireplace with a pair of torches. Along with his 6-year-old daughter, 3-year-old son and different members of the family and buddies watching from the bleachers, Vero ran greater than midway throughout the monitor earlier than colleagues sprayed him with the extinguishers.
Vero stated his again and hamstrings have been burned after the race, however he lathered his pores and skin with cream, and it healed after a number of days.
“Once you need to break this type of report,” Vero stated, “it’s important to settle for the hazards.”
Vero stated he’s turn into extra cautious about performing stunts since his kids have been born. However he’s proud to point out his children the Guinness World Report certificates he obtained final week, and he doesn’t plan to cease.
“There [are] numerous information that I feel I can break,” Vero stated.
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