BROOKINGS, S.D. (KELO) – A man in Brookings is attempting to break the world record for the most chest-to-ground burpees in 24 hours.

Brad Schmidt started at 8 a.m. Friday and will go until 8 a.m. Saturday at Crossfit Brookings as he attempts to be the new world record holder.

“I’ve done over 118,000 reps so far in the last ten months and yeah, ready to go today,” Brad said on Friday.

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It started in 2023 when he completed 420 burpees in one day as a part of a fitness challenge by Jocko Willink which eventually compounded into training year-round for this event.

The reason why? For his 3-year-old son Rogan who was born with a genetic condition called Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome.

“He’s been through a lot. I figured if he can do it every single day with a smile on his face, then I can do it at least one day,” Brad said.

Brad hopes this event will also raise awareness for a new nonprofit that helps families with children who have special needs.

“My wife and I are starting a nonprofit called My Special Life. We started the 9,030 challenge to kind of put yourself through walking a mile in a kid with special needs shoes of the struggles they go through every single day,” Brad said.

Along with his family, groups of supporters will be in and out of Crossfit Brookings throughout the day cheering him on.

Brad’s wife, Ashley Schmidt, says Brad is a “go-getter” and wasn’t surprised by his will to take on this challenge.

“It’s open to the public. Anybody can come and hang out and go ahead and do some burpees with them or just hang out and watch,” Ashley said.

Every 30 minutes Brad will take a five-minute break to fuel up.

“Push yourself to do something crazy. I think we’re all capable of way more than what we think we are,” Brad said. “Challenging yourself to go do something that nobody thinks is possible, go out there and do it.”

Ben Rowlinson set the world record for most chest-to-ground burpees in 2021.